Aquatic Kingdom Hearts Land of Giants
by Skywarp865
Summary: It's a brand new adventure for the Bearers of Destiny. Ariel is having sister troubles just in time for their enemies to put a new plan to acquire one of the Three Hearts using an army from the past. Eric, Ariel, and their friends have to not only stop a genocide from happening, but also keep their secrets safe, explore a new land, and mend a sisterly bond before it's too late.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The Little Mermaid, Atlantis the Lost Empire, or Pirates of the Carribean. They all belong to Walt Disney Pictures. I also do not claim ownership of Jack the Giant Slayer which belongs to Warner Brothers Pictures. Finally I claim no ownership over the BFG which belongs to the author** **Roald Dahl** **. This is a part of the Aquatic Kingdom Hearts Universe made by Stone-Man85 who has given me permission to create this part of the story. It takes place after the Rise of Atlantis and between events in the Dead Man's Chest stories. To understand certain terms in the story such as the Three Hearts, Seablade, characters, and other things, please refer to the previous stories by Stone-Man85.**

 **This is also my first attempt at a full story, just as a heads up. On with the show as they say.**

 **Aquatic Kingdom Hearts: Giant's Land**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Legend of the Giants**

* * *

 **Seven Years ago**

 **Depths of the Atlantic Ocean**

Deep in the ocean, near Atlantica. A nine year old Ariel is swimming through the water with an excited look on her face as equally excited thoughts flow through her mind. 'I can't wait to see what's inside it,' she thinks as she swims faster.

"Ariel! Wait up!"

She turns her head around and sees a young Flounder finally catching up as he is out of breath. "Sorry Flounder, but I'm just really excited to see what new things are inside the ship that sank a few days ago," Ariel says with excitement in her voice for searching for new things from the Surface that sank beneath the waves. Flounder on the other hand was scared and worried as shown by his frown on his face as he and Ariel continued to make their way towards the ship. "It's just.. King Triton forbids all interaction with the Surface."

"But this ship is down here now. That means it's part of the sea now," Ariel countered with a smile on her face as they stop before the ship that sank below the waves. It was a small sized cruise ship currently leaning on a large rock formation as the sun shines through the water illuminating the ship. Aside from the large hole in the front of the ship, it was the most intact ship Ariel had seen since she start looking through sunken ships. Ariel looks at the ship with a amazed expression as she makes a smile and has excitement in her eyes while Flounder expression shows he's very nervous about going inside the ship. "All right, let's go," Ariel says as she starts to swim over.

"Ariel!"

Ariel stops when she hears the voice and sighs in sadness as she and Flounder turn around to see Ariel's eleven year old sister and Triton's fourth daughter, Arista as she swims over to her sister with a concerned look on her face. "Ariel! Let's go back! You're a kid and this is too dangerous," she says with fear in her voice due to what her father had told everyone about the surface world. About how humans would catch and eat fish. Ariel rolls her eyes back while groaning at Arista's request as she looks at Arista, "Arista. It's not dangerous, it's just empty. There's nothing to worry about." Arista arrives in front of her younger sister and fish friend as she catches her breath from the swim and being able to catch Ariel before she put herself in danger. She looks at Ariel with a concerned expression, "None of us are supposed to be here. Daddy made it very clear that everyone is forbidden from interacting with the surface."

Ariel shakes her head as she looks back at the ship with fascination in her eyes and a smile on her face, "But just look at it Arista. It's amazing." Arista looks with a mix of worry for her sister and fear of the human ship on her face while Flounder simply has a nervous look as he looks at it while Ariel continues, "How do humans build such huge vessels like this? I mean, we build our chariots with giant shells left over from Nautilus shells, but these ships... they must have bigger creatures to build such things." Arista sees the size as she chuckles nervously, "Yeah, huge creatures. Great," she says with her voice tone showing that she doesn't share Ariel's excitement. 'Even bigger fish eaters. That's just what the world needs,' she thinks to herself with fear from the thought of large fish eating monsters. She takes deep breath, "Now let's get out of here. As your big sister-" she starts as she tries to live up to the role of what an supportive older sister should be like. "As my big sister, you'll look out for me," Ariel interrupts while continue to look at the ship. She then turns around and gives Arista a smile, "Right?"

Arista opens her mouth to argue, but she stops as she slowly realizes that Ariel was right. "She makes a good point," Flounder added in despite not liking the idea of going into the ship either. Arista continues to think of something, but finally gains an expression saying she knew she lost, and hung her head in defeat. "Uh... alright," she says after a minute. Ariel face brightens into a smile as she cheers that her sister was going with her and Flounder. "But I'm not going to like this," she says as after raising her head up and looks towards the ship. "This ship is just as spooky as the others that sink into the sea. It's like going into an eel cave with no illuminating crystals," she says showing she's uncomfortable going into the ship.

"Yeah, it's exciting, isn't it," Ariel says with happiness as going on an adventure into the unknown. She swims towards the ship, "Come on!" Arista and Flounder start swimming to catch up to her. "Since when has Ariel been good at finding ways around the rules like that," she asks herself without noticing she said that out loud. "I'm not sure," Flounder starts as Arista looks at him, "but she used the same move on me when I said that his majesty doesn't want us interacting with the Surface. She said the ship is a part of the sea now that it's down here." Arista has a surprised look on her face as she thinks about it and realizes that Ariel was right from a certain point of view. "Wow, she is good," she says as she and flounder continued to swim after Ariel.

 **Inside the Cruise Ship**

Ariel, Flounder, and Arista entered the ship through an entry door on the top of the ship. Before the three of them were a long, white hallway with multiple doors on the side that was barely visible thanks to the light from the doorway.

Arista was doing her best to hide how nervous she was at being inside a human ship. 'Keep calm Arista. If you show how scared you are, Ariel won't have anyone to depend on,' she thinks as she looks at Ariel as she moves her hands on the walls with a look of fascination on her face. "The walls feel so strange. It feels smooth like a seashell, but it's hard and cold like rocks. What did the humans use to build this ship," she asks out loud while Flounder looks around nervously.

Arista slowly placed her hand on the wall as well and noticed that Ariel was right. It felt cold like the stone walls at their palace home but smooth like a seashell used in their chariots. She then knocked on it and felt that it was as hard as rocks, maybe even harder.

"I'm not sure," Arista responds, "But we've looked and now we should-" turns to finish telling Ariel they should go only to find she was going from room to room quickly in search of anything new with Flounder attempting to keep up. "There's nothing here at all," Ariel says in disappointment, "All of the rooms look like they've been cleaned out."

Flounder looks sad for Ariel not being able to find anything knew but Arista seems silently relieved at this. 'Thank goodness. She didn't find anything for daddy to find and become angry about.' "I'm sorry you weren't able to find anything," she tells her little sister, "Come on, let's head home and I'll get us something nice-," she says as she heads for the exit while trying to get her sister out of the human ship as fast as she can.

However Ariel and Flounder had already gone deeper into the ship to see if there were any other treasures. Arista becomes nervous from being alone in the human ship. "Ariel? Flounder? Where did you go" she says while calling out their names. With no choice and concern for her youngest sister, Arista journeys deeper into the darker part of the ship. 'I wonder if I'm the only one having this kind of trouble,' she asks herself as she moves through the dark halls.

 **London, England**

A city known for it's landmarks such as it's clock tower Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace, the home of the ruler of England. It's also known for it's heavy rain. In the far end of the city, there stood an old, building made of bricks with up to three floors. It had different sets of windows ranging from four medium sized windows going up vertically to sets of windows with eight pieces of glass. The front had a metal fence with pointed tops on every other post and a heart shape frame eleven posts from the doors. The doorway to the building has a metal arc over the doors with the word "Orphanage" on it and the gate had similar design as the fence only it had fewer pointed ends, and arches going bended horizontally across the gate. On the door into the building were two green doors with a white frame with a window above them in a arch and the number 9 in the middle of the glass. This was one of many orphanages in London that was used for children who had no home to go to for various reasons.

In the backyard in the middle of the day, there were children playing in their doing different things. Some were playing different games with others, others were playing by themselves or just reading. However there were a three boys with ill intentions as they began to search for one particular boy.

"Where that little shrimp go," the skinny one with black hair said as he and the others looked around for their target.

"Maybe he's hiding out in his room or trying to hide behind the head mistress," the chubby one with brown hair responds as he looks around.

The taller blonde one just looks annoyed, "No problem. I'll just act innocent like I always do. She always falls for that," he snickers at the thought of how easy it was to make everyone else look bad with just a lie. "Come on. Let's see if we can find the little, fantasy loving bug," he and the others laugh as they enter the orphanage unaware that the person they were looking for was hiding in a tree not that far from them.

The victim of being bullied concealed in the leaves was an eleven year old Caucasian boy with short brown hair, and brown eyes. He had slim yet strong figure for a boy his age and was slightly shorter than the other kids in the orphanage. He wore a simple green shirt and brown pants. This was Jack Stalkman, an orphan who lost his parents four years ago, and has been at the orphanage in London since then.

Jack looked through the leaves branches as the resident bullies go into the building in order to find and torment him. He carefully moves across the strong branch of the tree he was on into the back of it in order to continue to hide. 'Why do they have to keep picking on me? So what if I believe in mystical things like giants. It's what I've always liked,' he thinks to himself as he curls himself with his arms around his legs as he hid his tormented expression from the bullies.

He couldn't go to the any of the workers due to believing the bullies innocent act that made him look like the bad guy and the other kids were afraid of the bully trio. Jack looked up at the sky with sadness and frustration on his face. 'Mom... Dad...,' Jack thinks to himself as he remembers how happy he was on the farm with his family years ago. Helping them tend the fields, feed the animals, playing with his father when the work was done, listening to his mother's songs, and enjoying the starry nights together with them.

Then everything changed when on a boat ride to do some trading, their ship met with tragedy as it sank with his parents getting him on a life boat to save his life as he watches the ship they were on sink into the darkness of the sea. When his life boat drifted to shore in the morning, he was taken to the orphanage due him not having any other family to take him in. Since then, it's been one cruddy day after another of bullies and being rejected by couples who came to adopt others. 'I wonder if I'm the only one as miserable as this,' he asks himself as he continues to look at the sky.

 **Back in the sunken ship**

 **In a Room**

Inside the room which was a basic one person bedroom with a bed and closet. Ariel and Flounder who were unaware that Arista wasn't with them were looking through the room for anything special. Ariel was looking through the closet when she comes out looking confused, "I don't understand," Ariel says out loud as she moves to look under the bed, "there are usually lots of amazing things on these ships."

"I'm not sure Ariel," Flounder says unsure as well. "But I have a bad feeling about this place." Flounder continued to look around nervously at the oddly empty ship. It was strange that a ship this large had nothing on board. "Maybe we should go since there isn't anything here. Right-" Flounder starts when he notices that Arista isn't with them. He realizes that they lost her somewhere in the ship and looks concerned, 'Oh no! If King Triton finds out about this, he'll be really angry,' Flounder thinks to himself as he imagines King Triton's furious face.

"AHA!"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!," Flounder yells in fear at the yell as he swims back inside and under the bed from the fear of something attacking them. Ariel however has a happy smile on her face, "I knew there we would find something on board this ship!" Ariel holds up her prize in joy at finding a new treasure which was a green book with a sapling on the front and the words "The Legend of the Giants" in brown over the sapling and on the side of the book.

She brought the book before her as she looked at it closely. "I wonder what it is though," she said as she turned it from side to side trying to figure out how it worked. Flounder came out to look with wonder as Ariel placed the book on her head.

"Maybe it's something you put on your head," she said as she smiled at her success of discovering the purpose of her new treasure before the book began to tilt to the side. She tried to keep it on but the book fell off her head despite her attempts to catch it.

The book landed on the floor opening up to reveal it's contents. Ariel and Flounder approached it with curiosity in their eyes as they looked at the pages in the book. On one side were words and the other was a picture of a very tall human in robes looking down at something but the angle of the picture made it look like the reader was the one the giant was looking at. Ariel continues to look at it, "Just what is this-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Ariel looks aware from the book as Flounder swims behind Ariel due to the scream in the air. "That sounds like Arista," Ariel responded which finally led to her noticing that Arista wasn't with them. "Uh oh," she looks behind her at Flounder, "Come on Flounder," she says as she picks her the book, "I'd say my sister has had enough adventuring for one day."

 **In the hallways**

Arista continues to look through the dark hallways for Ariel and Flounder so they could leave the human vessel. She becomes more nervous as she has no idea where she's going due to the lack of light. All she can see is the darkness that filled the ship. "Ariel? Flounder? Where are you," she calls out every few minutes in hope of them hearing her, so they could regroup, and leave of the ship. 'What does she see in exploring these things,' she asks herself as she continues to slowly wander through the halls not knowing where she's going, 'For all she knows this ship was meant to use those hooks humans use to catch fish.'

She couldn't understand why Ariel always had a fascination with the above world even though their father told them to stay away from there. 'As soon as I find her and Flounder, we're leaving this place and-' she was so lost in her thoughts along with the lack of visibility that she hit her back on what she thought was a wall. "Ow," she said out loud as she drifted down to recover, and then she felt something land on her tail. 'What was that,' she asked herself in panic as she looked where she felt her tail get hit. Before her were a pair of big, orange eyes, and green iris as they stared right through her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

She screamed in fear at the pair of eyes thinking they were on some kind of creature with ill intentions. She quickly swam up and grabbed onto the wall as it suddenly tore off the wall as it was part of something else. She let go of the wall and swam up for the wall to the ceiling and waited with a tense face for whatever was going to happen. Maybe it was some kind of flesh eating creature that liked to eat merfolk or some kind of human creature for hunting sea creatures were the thoughts going through her mind at the moment as she stayed perfectly still.

Minutes passed and nothing happened as she stayed perfectly still from fear. 'Why doesn't it-' she opened her eyes slowly to discover that there was no creature and there was small amount of light now. While looking for Ariel, she had swam into a room with an open door, and into a closet door that was now open and empty.

On the floor was rack used to hold a simple white curtain that was blocking the window preventing light from the ocean from entering the room. She looks around the room realizing that all the fear was all in her mind. She sighs in relief, 'It was just my imagination, that's all,' she tells herself 'Nothing to worry about-' she notices a strange object on the floor that was face down.

She moved towards it while reaching for it, 'That must have been what fell on me,' she picks it up with both hands as she turns it to face her. "But what is-" she begins but stops mid sentence as her eyes become wide in shock and her mouth gapes at what she held.

It was an old wooden mask in the shape of a heart with ten large spikes on it. It's main body was purple with a large portion of purple in the shape of an arrow with a longer point going between the eyes along with three small black spots on each side inside the white marking, and three horizontal black lines above the black spot on each side. On each side of the white marking were three yellow smooth sided triangles with some of the paint faded away above the eyes. On the top of the mask were two orange rectangles with a black outline, six black vertical lines with four on one side, and two between a large yellow spike on each side of the mask. On the side of the mask were four large spikes with different colors going down, starting with yellow, a red tipped on with a yellow bottom, a green one with the color becoming lighter going down before becoming yellow, and a blue one becoming brighter before becoming yellow. Where the green spikes were protruding from, was a green curved shape with a black outline, and a white line between the green part, and the middle of the mask. The center of the mask was red, outlined with a black line, and shaped almost like a set of insect wings. In the center were five black dots on the side of the mask with four on the bottom and two in the center and a white line drawn in a way that separated the two black dots from the others below it. The most distinguishing and scariest part of the mask were the eyes that shined as if they were real ones. They were two large eyes, larger for a normal person's anyway. The edges of the eyes were red but turned to orange and then yellow closer to the center of the eyes. The iris in each eye were green and smaller than regular ones.

Arista stared at the mask that she held the same expression, as if it was frozen in place. 'What is this thing? It is so spooky,' she stared at the eyes the most as if they were calling her. She even saw her own shocked reflection in the eyes as if the eyes were looking at her as well. 'I can't stop staring at it, no matter how much it creeps me out,' she thought to herself as if she and the mask were trying to see who could stare at it each other the longest.

"Arista, where are you?"

Arista snapped out of the stare off with the mask as she heard Ariel call out her name. "Ariel? I'm in here," she called out with excitement in her voice and relief on her face at knowing her sister and her friend were all right. Then she realizes that she's still holding the mask, 'Oh no. If Ariel sees this, she'll want to take it home, and I'll never be able to relax knowing she has this at home,' she thinks knowing that Ariel will see the mask as a treasure, and bring it home with them.

Quickly, she takes the mask, puts it back into the closet it came out of when she bumped into before, and closed the doors making it look like it was never opened.

"Arista?"

She hears Ariel say as she turns around, quickly swims out of the room, shuts the door just as Flounder and Ariel sees her, and finally turn to them with a goofy smile and her hands behind her back. 'Okay, just keep them out of the room, and away from that scary thing. No prob,' she says to herself. She waves at the two of them, "Ariel, Flounder, Hi."

Flounder and Ariel look surprised at Arista's sudden change of emotions as Ariel awkwardly waves back, "Hi Arista," she then looks apologetic as she approaches her sister, "Arista I'm sorry. I thought you were still with us before and-"

Arista swims forward in order to keep Ariel from noticing the room, "No it's all right. I wasn't paying attention then and earlier when I was looking for you," she says in a happy yet nervous tone, "Then I got lost, made myself scared, and spooked myself when I hit a wall."

Ariel looks confused by Arista's change of attitude, 'Why is she acting so strange. Did she find some-' "That's when you screamed right," Flounder said as he pieced it together.

Arista nods quickly, "Yes. That was my own doing," she then took her younger sister's shoulder with her arm and Flounder with her other free arm. "Now why don't we head back and get some supper," Arista asks as she slowly guides them towards the exit of the ship.

Ariel looks at her sister as she acts strange compared to earlier, more cheerful than when they entered the sunken ship. "Arista, are you okay? Was there something else that-" she was about to look over her shoulder to look at the door Arista was at before when Arista pushed them out faster down the dark hallway.

"Me? Strange? No Ariel. I just feel we should head back before dinner," Arista says with hints of being nervous in her voice as they pass through the dark hallways illuminating by the doors opened by Ariel when she looked through all the rooms.

Flounder looks at her, "But supper isn't for a while yet," he points out to Arista. "All the more reason we should head back now and avoid being late," she says as they reach the door they came in from. "Oh look there's the exit," she says with relief in her voice as they go through the door, "We might as well head home now. Last one home is a rotten clam," she says as she lets go of the two and quickly swims in the direction of Atlantica as a confused Ariel and Flounder look at her going before catching up no longer wondering what had gotten into Arista.

 **Atlantica**

 **King Triton's Daughter's Room**

It was a lonely dinner due to it just being Ariel and Arista due to King Triton taking the other girls on a royal trip to a neighbour's land. Ariel wanted to go but she was still too young for a trip that far from Atlantica and Arista volunteered to stay behind to keep her company and watch over her. The rest of the girls' family wouldn't for another two days.

Later that night, Arista was now in her room that she and her sisters share. It was a large room with seven large clam shells that they used for their beds, three on one side, and four on the other. Behind each bed was a mirror with green coral with holes surrounding the mirrors. At the end of the room was a large opening which served as a window with some undersea flowers growing above the opening.

Arista was currently in bed staring at the ceiling after the eventful day she had watching over Ariel as questions flow through her mind. 'How does she do it? Where does she find the courage and curiosity to go into dangerous places like that,' she asks herself.

She looks over to the door as Ariel swims in after she finished getting ready for bed. Ariel went over to her bed which was one away from Arista's with an excited look on her face as she picked up the book she found on the empty ship and looked at Arista.

"Arista, thanks again for coming with me today," Ariel said with a big smile on her face, "It made the trip even better." Arista looked at her sister and say how happy she was that she went with her.

"Sure," she nodded at her happy younger sister as she looked down, and noticed the book in her hand. "Are you sure that human object is safe? What if it's something related to hunting sea folk," Arista asked with a nervous tone. Unlike Ariel, she was cautious when it came to things from the above world. Ariel shows her the book by showing it to her, "I don't know what it is, but it's not dangerous," she responds to her older sister's question as she opens the book, "It's like the scrolls used for our classes, but it opens like a clam." As Ariel opens the books multiple times in front of her to show it wasn't a threat, Arista saw that on one side were words that she could understand, and different pictures on each page depicting different things.

Flounder than swam into the girl's room through the window due to her inviting him in before the girls returned home to eat supper. Ariel turned to see Flounder while waving at him, "Hi Flounder, ready to see what is written in this scroll clam," she asked referring to the book as she moves over to her bed as Flounder joins her. "Yeah I guess," he said with a look of interest but still nervous due to it being a human object.

Ariel turned her head to Arista, "Arista, do you want to hear this story too," she asked hoping her sister would want to hear it as well. Arista nodded, "Sure, but I'll just listen for now," she gets up as she goes for the mirror fix her hair for bed, "I'll join you after I finish getting ready for bed," she finished with a smile.

Ariel nodded, "Okay." As Arista began to comb her hair for the night, Ariel sat in her bed with Flounder by her side as she opened the book. This time at the beginning instead of a random page. She began to read out loud.

 _Ages ago, there was a time when the land was endlessly green and food was plentiful. Trees, strong and tall were everywhere, fruits ripe and delicious grew on the branches. The fields were filled with vegetables that rose from the ground. All because of a infinite source of magic seeds from a powerful magical one of a kind plant called the Seed of Demeter. Thanks to it, the world knew peace that seemed endless._

 _Then one day, a group a monks using the seeds from magic beans from the Seed of Demeter grew a mighty beanstalk to the sky. They climbed up the beanstalk in search of Heaven and their God. What they found at the top of the stalks between Earth and Heaven was a dangerous place._

 _The land they found was one filled with a race of giant men that ruled it, Giant's Country. With a bridge between their land and Earth made, the giants came down the stalks to land of man, and began taking all they could. Food, animals, gold, anything they could grab. But the one thing they love to take to eat, was man which they would devour, blood, bones, and all._

Ariel looks at the pages of the giants grabbing all they can with a excited smile on her face. "Wow, this is amazing. Can you imagine it," she says as she imagines the idea of giants before her eyes. "A land full of green seaweed, a land high above the clouds, and creatures that are larger than whales," she says out loud as the thoughts of the ocean floor being green with seaweed as high as her home rather than just coral and sand, and giants that could hold whales in their hands with ease. "Wouldn't it be great to see a place like that and see what things there are to collect," she asks with excitement in her voice from the adventures and things to collect.

"No way!"

Ariel turns her head away from the book in the direction of Flounder's voice to see him and Arista hiding under her blanket on her bed showing that unlike Ariel, they were very afraid of the giants in the story. "Seriously Ariel... this is too scary," Arista added from under the shaking blanket, "As if humans with fish-eating hooks weren't more frightening, now there are even bigger humans that devour us and them in two bites whole... while we're still alive." Ariel could not see their faces, but she could tell by Arista's voice that she was clearly scared of the thought of even larger humans with an even worse apitite than regular humans. She pulled the blanket out from under her to reveal her scared face along with Flounder, "Please stop reading, Ariel; I can't take it anymore," she pleaded to stop her sister from reading anymore.

Ariel shook her head no, "No way. I wanna see how this tale ends," she responds as she looks back at the book where she left off, "Besides, it is almost done."

 _Soon the giants found the Seed of Demeter and ravaged the temple despite the monks efforts to protect it. Soon the Seed of Demeter was crushed by the leader of the giants, a two headed giant known as Fallon with only a single dying seed being found by the survivors._

 _With their world in danger, King Erik asked for help across the land, and soon three armies rose to fight for their world. One army used the waters of the ocean to push the giants back, a second army that attacked from the skies with bolts of lighting, and King Erik leading the third from the ground using their size to their advantage._

 _In battle, King Erik fought with a staff made by the monks who breathed new life into the seed of the Seed of Demeter, mixed it with King Erik's blood, and created the Stalkman Staff. A powerful weapon that only those of King Erik's blood could wield, the power to control plants, and the forests around them._

 _Soon the war came to a standstill with neither side gaining ground. To avoid more bloodshed, the three Kings had the monks use the heart of a slain giant, mixed it with dark magic, and formed a crown that would bend the will of giants to whoever wore it. With the crown, King Erik sent the giants back to Giant's Country at last, and the three armies cut the beanstalk down. The land despite being scarred by war, was at peace once more as the three armies rejoice at their victory in a party that lasted for three days._

 _After the celebration ended, the three kings agreed to separate the three items of the war to ensure that the terror of the giants could never be unleashed again or misused by others. One of the leaders took the crown, the second took the Stalkman Staff, and King Erik kept the seeds, and the three armies went their separate ways._

 _King Erik ruled the land until the time of his passing had come, and took the secret of the seeds to his grave. Soon with all things, the Great Giant War was forgotten with time by the world, but not by the giants, whose homeland had become their prison. Who now wait for the day when a bridge between their worlds is found, and return to the Land of Man to wage the war again. With them as the victors and consume the descendants of the three kings._

Ariel looked at the illustration of the final page showing one giant looking down with a war helmet with a face plate covering his face except for an angry glare on his face. A look of satisfaction at the ending, "What a fantastic story. I wonder if all the stories humans tell are as exciting as this one," Ariel said as she hugged the book that she greatly enjoyed. With the thought of finding more stories like the one she just read, she turns to Arista and Flounder with excitement in her eyes, "Hey, we should look for more of these scroll clams the next time a ship-" she sees that both Flounder and Arista had fallen asleep. Arista had the covers over her head and Flounder had moved to Ariel's bed after Arista had fallen asleep.

Ariel looked at the two sleeping as if they didn't have a care in the world, 'It must not have scared them as much as they said it did if they fell asleep this easily,' she thought before she yawned from fatigue. 'I think I'll join them,' she thought before getting under her own covers, turned the light off, and fell asleep.

What Ariel didn't know was that Arista was still awake as her eyes opened when she knew Ariel had gone to sleep. Unlike her sister who felt excited at such an adventure, Arista was left feeling afraid at the story of the giants. 'An entire land of giants that eat people and possibly merpeople alive... Who would actually enjoy a story like that,' she asked herself as she tried to go back to sleep without the risk of a nightmare.

 **London, England**

 **Orphanage**

 **3:00 a.m.**

The city was now in the dark blanket of the night with the only source of light on the streets were street lights help those out to see. None of the lights were on showing those outside that the occupants of the rooms were asleep. Inside the rooms which seemed like they were used as classrooms were filled with the kids outside asleep on makeshift beds. All except for one which was the occupant of the bed by the window. It was Jack who was currently reading a book as well which sat on his pillow, a flashlight in his hand for illumination, and an orange cat that always chose his bed to sleep on. Jack was looking at the page of the final illustration of the book which was the ending that showed the giants in battle armor as they looked down at the land below with angry expressions at their imprisonment.

'Giants Country, a land filled with man eating giants, and humans are the insects of the land,' Jack thought with wonder at such a land, 'I'd take living there over this place.' He turned the pages back to a illustration of King Erik fighting against the giants with his army despite the danger and disadvantage he was at and focused on King Erik wielding his magic staff, 'You never backed down or ran away. You stood up for yourself and protected your land,' he thought in admiration at King Erik's courage, 'You were a lot braver than I am,' Jack thought feeling depressed at how he hides from bullies that were mosquitoes compared to the giants that King Erik faced.

Jack continued to stare at the picture silently wishing to find the courage to stand up against his bullies. What he didn't know was that someone was watching him from outside through the open window. The figure was in shadows, was wearing a cloak, carrying a suitcase along with a long horn like object, and had a pair of brown eyes that were on a human shaped head. But for those who saw him, they would see that he was taller than a regular human due to him looking through the window that was on the third floor of the building without a ladder to assist him.

 **Wow! This was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I do not blame any writer if they have a hard time coming up with story content or need time to make sure everything is ready for viewing. That and it's summer and I can't focus when it's too hot. I hope everyone enjoyed this, newcomers, and original fans of the Aquatic Kingdom Hearts series. Also here are some questions that some may have.**

 **1) This series is once again based around Stone-Man85's Aquatic Kingdom Hearts series. To understand certain terms later on, please read his original stories.**

 **2) The reason Jack has a description is because he is so far the first new main character introduced so far. Ariel, Flounder, and Arista already had descriptions in Stone-Man85's previous stories.**

 **3) After discussing it with Stone-Man85, this story takes place between the prologue of Dead Man's Chest, and ends in time to begin the events of the Dead Man's Chest.**

 **4) I plan to have funny moments from other different series incorporated into the story in a way that makes sense, but I hope to have my own original moments in with Stone-Man's permission as well.**

 **5) I can't promise a steady stream of updates at first due to work along this blasted heat, but I hope to pick up the pace after summer ends, and it's easier to focus in.**

 **6) The mask she finds is from another series, but I'm not saying what it is. I want to see if anyone can guess what it is based on my description of it.**

 **That said, I hope you enjoyed it, and future chapters to come. Please review if you can and I'll try to reply as soon as I can. (I'm not giving spoilers away though.)**


	2. Chapter 2 A New Plan Takes Shape

**Sorry for this taking so long. The heat from the summer, work, and my sister's wedding kept me from focusing on the story. Along with the worst torment of them all... writer's block.**

 **Chapter 2: A New Plan Takes Shape and Sisterly Bonds Weakens**

 **Port Royal**

 **Harcourt Museum**

At the same time Ariel was on her way to Atlantica and Eric was trying to understand why he was chosen as the Seablade Bearer, there were others who were up in the dark of the night. The lights of the museum were all on as if it was just another day, meaning that unlike most nights, there were people working. To those who were out late that night, they would think it was just the security guards using the lights to help stay awake, and keep an eye out for anyone breaking in. The halls that were filled with silence from the lack of people walking and reading out loud at the descriptions of different exhibits was broken by the sound of wheels rolling echoing through the halls. Then a yawn also echoed through the halls that came from one of the two employees currently moving a number of large wooden boxes and one cardboard box with a hand truck.

"Come on man, you know how contagious that i-," one of the workers said in an annoyed tone before he suddenly yawns himself, "You see," he says when he finishes as he looks at his co-worker. This man was of African descent, with straight black hair, and gray eyes. He was wearing blue t-shirt, blue jeans, and gray steel-toed work boots. He also had a security badge attached to the right side of his shirt with the name Joe Clements on it showing he could be there that late.

"Sorry Joe, this graveyard shift is killing me," the other employee said with a tone that showed he was very sleepy. He was caucasian, brown hair, and green eyes. He was wearing a black t-shirt, brown jeans, and gray steel-toed work boots like Joe was. He also had a security badge on the right of his shirt with the name Arnold Musker on it. "Why are we doing this graveyard shift again," he asked wondering why they had to work when they were usually on day shifts.

"We weren't going to. The boat was supposed to arrive hours ago but instead it came late leading to our night shift turning into a graveyard shift," Joe responded to the question as to why they were working when they should have been in bed. He too was annoyed at their job becoming harder due to the ship being tardy for it's drop off and no way of contacting the ship to know when it was going to arrive.

Arnold grunted as he and Joe continued to push the hand cart to it's intended destination but also at Joe's answer, "Then where the heck are the night shift employees now," he asked as he noticed that the halls were empty of life that he thought there would be janitor cleaning the floor or the night guards making sure no one broke into the building.

"Ahhhh they're probably on break in the employee lounge or out taking a smoke," Joe responded as they made a turn down the hall, "We'll probably see them when we take our break."

"Where are we taking this again," Arnold asked Joe as they made their way through the lifeless hallways.

"Right here," Joe said as they had arrived without Arnold noticing. They stopped pulling the hand cart as they looked at the wing for the new exhibition.

It was a large room with a blue ceiling and walls that went until the half of the wall where it became white. On the walls were hooks, several spots for the different displays, and on the side of the wall were museum ropes ready to surround the different exhibits to prevent people from getting too close. In the middle of the room was a display that was bigger than the others showing that the main attraction was to go there.

Arnold and Joe looked at the room as they wheeled the cart in. As they did, Arnold looked up and saw a red banner that said "Era of King Erik" in bold yellow letters revealing what the subject of the exhibit was. "King Erik? Who the heck is that," Arnold said as the workers moved the crates in.

"Consider this a free history lesson from being the first to see the exhibits," Joe said as he went around and started moving the smaller boxes off the largest one.

Arnold looked at his co-worker with a look of surprise, "Wait, you mean we have to set up the stuff as well," he asked with dread and confusion in his voice at the thought of being here even longer. "I thought we were just to drop off the cargo at the exhibit, go home, and finish in the morning," he said while moving other boxes on the handcart to the side.

"That was the original plan and I don't like this situation either," Joe said as he moved one of the boxes out of the way of the cart to get at the largest box, "But the cargo was supposed to arrive much sooner than it did so we're running late."

"So why the change than," Arnold asked still confused by why they had to stay and work despite what the manager said before, "We still have time to go home and sleep for a while," he said as he moved one of the boxes to one of the display areas in the room. He than reached into his pocket to pull out his cell phone, "It's only-" he activated the screen on his phone to see the electronic clock say 4:05am which leads to his eyes widening in surprise, "Oh crud."

"Exactly," Joe said while continuing to work. "The cargo was supposed to arrive at Port Royal Harbor at 9:30pm, but it was delayed until around 3:30am."

"And since we were supposed to be back at 6am with everyone else to set the exhibit, there's no point in going home to begin with," Arnold finished in a defeated tone as he realized the situation he and his co-worker were in. Since it was after four and they were due back at 6am to work on the exhibit, there wasn't enough time to drive home and sleep before they had to come back.

"What do you have to complain about anyway? We both were able to catch some winks while waiting for the ship," Joe said in an annoyed tone at his co-worker's complaints, "Plus you slept for the drive back to the museum while I did the driving." It was true that when the ship was late, the two ended up napping in the moving truck waiting for the cargo ship to arrive, and Joe did all the driving back after loading the truck. Arnold on the other hand ended up snoozing on the way back which led to him constantly yawning as they transported the boxes to their intended wing of the museum.

Arnold puts one of the last few boxes to it's designated area, "What do you want to bet that the ship was delayed because of... that name that must not be said in the area of the museum," he said the last part in a joking tone of voice while moving his index and middle finger up and down for affect. Both employees laughed at that little joke in the museum that started yesterday.

"But yeah, the ship was probably delayed because of that," Joe said referring to Atlantis rising a few days ago. When the cargo ship arrived earlier, they were both told by the captain that the ship's engines were flooded by sea water when the ship was hit by the wave from the Lost Continent rising from below the sa which led to them being delayed as they spent about half a day fixing it. "Let's just be glad that the boat didn't arrive later on when the museum opens. If Harcourt found out about it, he and his colleagues would have one more thing to be angry about."

Arnold nodded in agreement, "No kidding, but you can't deny it being some sort of karma on all of them." When word got out that Atlantis had returned, Harcourt and his colleagues reputation took a major blow when they refused to have anything to do with Atlantis in the museum. This led to them losing a large number of employed archaeologists who wanted to learn more about Atlantis. This only made Harcourt even more infuriated that by this new development along with the Thatch family being right all along, even to the point of saying the words "Thatch" and "Atlantis" became a taboo for anyone who entered the museum, employed or not. Arnold even saw it as the Spirit of Thaddeus and Milo Thatch getting their payback for the ridicule they endured from the owners of the museum.

"Now he's trying to make everyone forget about the return of Atlantis with this exhibit to this Erik guy," Joe finished after moving the last box on top of the largest and heaviest box. "Come on," he says as he turns his head towards Arnold at the other end of the room, "Let's set this one up and then rest until 6am."

Joe nodded in agreement as he walked over while picking up a set of crowbars from the cardboard box for them. They both went to one side of the long wooden box as it sat horizontally on the floor. With little to no effort, the two employees deprived of a good night's sleep loosened the nails holding the top of the box on revealing the contents of the box to the curious men.

Inside the box was a large rectangular stone box with ancient symbols on the side beyond anyone's understanding other than it being royalty. On the lid was the stone carving of an elderly old man with a beard in a standard rest in peace position with his hands clasped together on his chest. The carving showed he was dressed in royal clothing and a crown indicating the person inside was a king in his life. On the bottom of the box was the name KING ERIK engraved into it with two triangles with swirly lines similar to vines with a circle around them.

"The body of an old king," Arnold starts before shivering from a chill through his spine, "This is just inviting more trouble for Port Royal."

Joe let out a groan as he heard Arnold's recent crazy supernatural ideas from objects from tombs with curses on it or items with legends saying they have supernatural powers. "You've said that about everything ever since everyone imagined the pirates that attack Port Royal were undead," he said with an annoyed tone of voice. To those who worked with him, they knew that Arnold possessed a slight supernaturally paranoia. This became more evident ever since the Black Pearl attack Port Royal a few months ago and people reporting the crew of Barbossa being among the undead by their unnatural immunity to death blows.

This idea was dropped by the public when Norrington under Lord Beckett's orders to announced Barbossa and his crew were not undead pirates. The official word to the public and the press was that swamp gases from weather balloons that reflected the light from Venus were exposed to the citizens by the pirates, causing the citizens of Port Royal to hallucinate the pirates being undead. Despite most of Port Royal believing Norrington's words, most who saw the Barbossa's old crew take bullets to the chest like they were bug bites were skeptical about the whole thing.

"Yeah, but having a corpse from a probably cursed tomb is just inviting trouble," Arnold said nervously as he backed away in cautioness, "For all we know that could bring in more supernatural trouble to Port Royal."

Joe just groaned at this whole supernatural talk, "Come on man, it's just a corpse. Heck by now it's probably just a pile of bones covered in dust for all we know," Joe said as he walked towards the entrance of the exhibit, "Come on, we've earned our break and a bite before we finish setting up the exhibit."

"Truer words were never spoken," Arnold said in agreement as he turned the lights off, and followed his co worker to the employees lounge leaving the room silent and dark again. The silence was broken however though quiet sound of something phasing up through the floor as if it wasn't there. Suddenly, there are two new figures in the room, only they weren't workers, or even human despite their shape.

Both of them were the size of humans, but they looked as though they were born at the bottom of the sea, or mutated into their present shapes. One still had a human shape but his face looked as though it was made of dark coral found under the sea and a red eye on the top of his head. He had all sorts of different small rocks and formations formed under the sea on different parts of his body and clothing. He wore a tattered pirate clothing consisting of a white shirt, a black coat, and a bandana around the top of his head. This was Ogilvey, a crew member and head gunner on the Flying Dutchman.

The first was Ogilvey, the one with sea coral for a face, and one of the crew that attacked Eric on the school cruise ship months ago. The second resembled a large brown humanoid lobster with a human face with antenna resembling a moustache. From his chest to his waist he had small lobster legs coming out with one extra on his left thigh and on his back was the shell of a lobster including a tail. His right hand was human but his left hand was a claw instead. His right leg resembled one human sized lobster leg while his left looked like two long lobster legs stuck together. His name was Penrod and he along with four others were Davy Jones most trusted crewmembers.

The two looked back and forth around the room, "Finally! I thought they'd never leave," Penrod quietly said in annoyance, mostly from just not being able to slit their throats to make the job easier.

Ogilvey nodded in agreement as he turned his head to their current objective, the stone coffin on display. "Come on," Ogilvey said in a gravely voice that came out of the middle hole of his face with pointed teeth moving, "Let's get whatever that witch wanted here and get out before anyone sees us."

Penrod walked towards the coffin. "Not a problem," he said as he reached his claw for the lid expecting it to go through it, only for it to simply touch the stone. "What the," Penrod said out loud as he continued attempted to phase his claw into the coffin with little success, "Why isn't this working," he said with a frustrated tone of voice.

"So the Witch spoke the truth," Ogilvey said as he walked over with his hook ready which Penrod noticed, "She said this coffin has some kind of magic on it that protects it from being found or tampered with by magic," he explained as he stuck his hook into the part where the lid was and begins to pry it open, "Come on, the longer we take, the more angry the captain will get waiting for this."

Penrod walked over ignoring the fact that a crew member below him was giving him orders as he grabbed the bottom part of the lid and began to pull. "That explains why the Witch was cooped up in her ice box for so long after her last failed attempt at the Hearts," Penrod said knowing the Ursula never left her new lair or called for Jones since her failure to get the Heart of Atlantis. "Plus it must be something powerful if even she couldn't track it with magic. Any idea what it is," Penrod asked as he and Ogilvey continued to loosen the lid off.

"All she said that it would make the sea king practically beg to give her his trident. If you ask me, this whole thing is gonna blow up in her face just like the last time," Ogilvey answered annoyed as they continued to loosen the lid. It was true that Ursula's plans to acquire the Hearts of the Sea have worked in part but have all ended in failure due to the Seablade Bearer and his group of ever expanding friends. "I don't even know why the captain keeps going along with her schemes anymore-"

He stops as the sound of stone rubbing against stone is heard. Finally, the coffin had been opened after centuries of being sealed. The smell of old rotting flesh contained for all that time escaped through the small opening. To normal humans, it would be cringe worthy, but for those who serve Davy Jones, the smell was like a breath of fresh air compared to the breath of their captain's pet.

"About time," Ogilvey said as grabbed the lid and attempted to move it out of the way, "Give me a hand. This lid is heavier than it looks," said without realizing that he made a joke about Penrod who glared at him but ignored it as he grabbed an end of the lid with his human hand, and pulled on the lid. Despite two men pulling, the stone was still extremely heavy. The lid slowly began to move after a few seconds of struggling with the two pirates holding it. "Now put it down carefully and quietly. Any noise and we might-" Ogilvey starts only for his words to be stopped by a bang that caused his eye to look as though it was burning with pain. At the moment, the bottom of the lid was on his right foot which was the cause of great pain going through him. It was taking all the coral faced pirate had from yelling in pain coming from his foot.

"Oops," Penrod said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice. When the two were moving the lid out of the way, Penrod lost his grip on it due to only having only one hand on it while his claw was attempting to keep it stable. This led to the lid landing on Ogilvey's poor foot. 'That's for the hand joke,' he thought to himself as he looked inside the coffin.

Inside was a dry old skeleton in the same position as the stone carving along with the same clothes and armor. Except they had become old, torn, and full of holes from the passing of time.

"We went through all this trouble for a box of bones," Penrod said in annoyance, "What good could that witch do with a pile of-" he stopped his complaints when he noticed something. In the hands of the decaying bones was a small brown sack, as if King Erik was protecting them with his life. 'She can't be serious. All this trouble for a dirty sack that is probably empty,' Penrod thought to himself, 'Ogilvey is right to be confused if the witch is after a new change purse!'

"What... do you... see," Ogilvey said with strain in his voice from holding back a scream a pain while holding the heavy lid in his hands.

"Just a pile of old bones and a brown sack," Penrod answered with his back turned annoyed at the wasted venture.

"Well then take the sack," Ogilvey said, "Better we bring back something than nothing at all."

"Right," Penrod said with little interest in his voice as he reached for the sack with his claw and pulled it out. It was true that Penrod thought this was a waste, but better to take the what was in the coffin than return to their captain empty handed. "Got it," he said as he turned around.

"Then help me with this damn heavy rock," Ogilvey practically shouted from the stress finally becoming too much for him, "The captain ordered us to not leave any clues so hurry help and help me put this back!"

 **In the Sewers Below Port Royal**

After struggling to put the heavy lid back in place, the two pirates returned to the sewers to make their escape without any of the guards seeing either of them. The sewers were the last place anyone would want to go unless they were being paid to work down there. The smell of waste filled the tunnels as the sewer water flowed through to where it would be put through the cleaning process and returned to the ocean. Most wouldn't dare go into the sewers without the proper gear to protect themselves from breathing in the germs that could make one extremely sick... unless those who were immune to such things. For going through the rat filled pathways of the sewer were two inhuman looking figures that didn't have to worry about such things. Despite not having to risk the dangers of deadly germs or the smell that paled in comparison to the breath of the Kraken, the two pirates were not happy with this venture.

"I don't know what's worse," Penrod said out loud as they walked through the filthy sewers, "Telling the captain this whole thing has been about a change purse or walking through this sludge filled lower deck."

'I'd say it's listening to you complain,' Ogilvey said to himself as he did his best to ignore Penrod. He didn't like this anymore than Penrod did, but orders from the captain were absolute, and he wouldn't dare go against them. This still left him wondering why the captain followed Ursula's orders anyway when they had no real grudge against Eric aside from surviving their first encounter. Something no one has ever done and lived to tell about it. 'Does the Witch know about the captain's secret? No, even she did, the captain could easily have blast the witch at any time like he did to Triton's broad. So why is he-'

"How'd we even get stuck with this stupid job!"

Ogilvey was knocked out of his train of thought by Penrod's constant complaining, "Because you decided bet eight fives at Liar and lost," said in a complaining way. Before when Jones came down to get two crew members to go to the museum, they were in the middle of a game of Pirate Liar, the only game they could play when not on duty. He decided that the losers of the game would be the ones to take the mission, which were Penrod and Ogilvey who lost to Marcus.

"I would've been right if you had one more five," Penrod said in anger at Ogilvey who he blamed for their situation, "No we're down here, delivering a useless item that's going to blow up in the witch's face and-" Suddenly a low sound echoes through the sewers, like a stream of water hitting more water and echoed in a cave. The two pirates started to look around for the source of the sound. "What was that," Penrod asked in a nervous tone as he looked around.

"Probably a heavy cart above us being pulled by horses," Ogilvey said trying to think of what it could be.

 **Above Ground**

What they didn't know that the section of the sewer the two pirates were connected to the plumbing of one particular building near the edge of the city. The building was a medium sized two story complex with a basement shown by the windows on the bottom of the building. It had a walkway for the elderly and those who used wheelchairs leading to the entrance door between two protruding rooms. The roof was red, the main body of the building was yellow, and the bottom had bricks supporting the building. OUt on the lawn near the sidewalk was a sign that read "Port Royal's Senoirs Villa" in bold letters revealing the building was home for the elderly who were unable to live by themselves due to poor health.

The sound they were hearing was originating from the only light room at the moment in the dark of the night. A resident was finishing using the washroom as he flushed his body's waste down into the sewer system. This however led to the affects of the bladder control domino effect which the elderly are highly susceptible to. Suddenly all the lights were on and the sound of multiple toilets flushing all at once filled the building.

 **Back in the Sewers**

The sound grew louder increased as the two pirates looked behind them to find the sound coming from a sewer way to the left of them with a low stream brown water flowing out. "Sounds like a lot of carriages out tonight," Oglivey said as the two pirates looked down the dark cave. Suddenly, a huge vibration was felt under them. The rumbling increased as the sound began to weaken. The two pirates kept staring down the sewer way with curiosity keeping them there. Finally the sound disappeared and the pirates were met with a fearsome sight for anyone.

Coming out of the sewer was a massive and violent burst of sewer water swirling around the walls of the sewer. It was as if the a massive tidal wave as attempting to form, but the cramped walls of the sewers caused the wave to become a more focused burst of violent water intended for one target rather than a wide area.

The two pirates looked with wide eyed shock as the blast of sewer water came at them. Just before the water was halfway down the path, the sense of shock and curiosity holding their bodies in place finally broke their grip on them. "RUUUUUUNNN," Penrod yelled out as the two pirates ran down the sewer ways just as the sewer burst blasted out, and overflowed the pathways of the sewers. The two pirates ran down the sewers from the blast of dirty water that continued to follow them and flooded the sewers. It was to the point where the man hole covers above ground flew off from the water flooding out like geysers throughout the streets. Despite the two being sea creatures themselves, even they didn't want to walk in filthy water that went over their heads. The two pirates ran the best they could but even with portions of the water being spurted out from above, soon they were caught in the blast of sewer water, and were pushed down the sewer system unable to break free of the powerful current.

 **A Few Minutes Earlier**

 **Port Royal Graveyard**

The Port Royal graveyard sat behind the Old Church near the Governor's House, with the ocean behind it with it sitting on a high cliff, and a set of buildings to the right of it. It was a typical graveyard showing the deceased over the years, from big names, nameless graves of murderers showing that one less criminal was in the world, to those simply set up for those who spent their life in Port Royal.

On the other side of the graveyard hiding from sight was the infamous Flying Dutchman, waiting for the return of it's two crew members. At the moment, all the different members of the crew were doing what they could to kill time before Oglivey and Penrod returned through the graveyard where they left from before going below the streets via the sewers to their destination. At the moment, Davy Jones stood on the rim of the poop deck looking over the ship with the helm behind him, and he was not in the best of moods at the moment.

'How long does it take to sneak into a blasted building, steal whatever is in some old coffin, and return to the ship,' he asks himself as he smokes his pipe as a means of entertainment. Due to their objective needing to be quiet, they had to be in and out of Port Royal without anyone seeing them before Eric and his friends made it back, that meant he couldn't play his organ until they left Port Royal. 'If those two are just sitting on their rumps doing nothi-' Suddenly he and the rest of the crew hears the sound of gushing water coming from Port Royal, but are unable to see what is the cause of it.

In the crow's nest, one of Jones' top men, Ratlin, the one whose transformation resembled the ship itself rather than aquatic life, was looking through a telescope to for signs of the two pirates. He did however spot geysers of brown water rising up in the air just as Jones phased in the nest, "What the blazes is going on Ratlin," Jones demanded to know.

"Appears to be water bursting out of the streets captain," Ratlin replied while still watching, "The foulest water me eye have ever seen."

Jones grabbed the telescope from Oglivey and looked himself to see the spurting pillars of sewage water high in the air. "Those two had better not be behind this-" Suddenly, a huge burst of sewer water bursts out of a manhole in front of the graveyard spraying the largest amount of sewer water yet into the air, and catching the two pirates at the highest point of the ship. Then the sound of water spraying into the air was joined by the faint sound of two screaming male voices growing louder and louder.

Jones and Ratlin look up to see the origin of the screams only to faintly see small objects falling towards the ship at an alarming speed. "What in the blazes of Hell be that," an angry Jones asked demanding an answer. Unfortunately, Ratlin nor the other crew members looking up had an answer, all they could do was keep their eyes up in the air as the two spots became clearer and clearer. Before anyone knew what happened, the two specks sped right by everyone, crashed into the main hall of the ship, and left two gaping holes in the floorboards.

The murmuring pirates crowded around the hole to see what the cause of the holes were. Out of the holes, covered in splinters, brown water, and emitting a smell so foul that it made Mole smell like a fresh bouquet of roses were Oglivey and Penrod currently disoriented from the crash. "What the hell happened to the land after all the years we've been on the Dutchman," Oglivey asked out loud as he held onto the edge of the hole catching his breath.

"I don't know," Penrod said as he coughed up sewer water onto the deck, "I'm just glad to be back on the-" he started as he and Oglivey looked to meet the cold glare from Davy Jones directed right at both of them. "You know being in the dirt water sounds pretty good right- GAAACK," Penrod stated before Jones grabbed him and Oglivey by their necks and held them up before him while maintaining his glare.

"Ye best choose ye words wisely gentlemen," Jones said with venom in his voice as his grip tightened to the point of the two pirates being unable to breath, "Otherwise you'll be tied to the front of the ship and then fed to the Kraken for breakfast!"

Penrod was struggling to respond to the captain's threats, but the claw squeezing his neck was making that very difficult. Oglivey on the other hand, despite the pain of being strangled by Jones' tentacle hand, was able to pull out a glowing green sphere the size of a person's head. Jones released Oglivey and took the sphere given to him by Ursula to transport their objective in. He looked inside to see the small bag float in the middle of it. He's glare intensified at what he saw as he dropped Penrod onto the deck as well. "A purse," he nearly yelled in anger, "All of this over a little purse," he turned his glare at the delivery boys, "This is what was in that blasted coffin!?"

Penrod coughed a few times before nodding, "Aye captain. That little bag was the only valuable thing among the dust and bones."

The Flying Dutchman's captain could only growl at what felt like a fool errand for the witch, "That witch better have a good plan this time," he declared as his glare was focused on the sphere, "Otherwise I may just put the black spot on her!" He turned to the other pirates, "Mister Legs."

A pirate stepped forward when called by his name. The pirate was quite different from the others. His transformation turned his body into what seemed to be solid plant life found under the seas and a large fin on his back. The only noticeable piece of clothing was his boot fused to his right leg. His face seemed to be a mix of a stonefish and had the mouth of a piranha. This was Jimmy Legs, the harsh buson of the crew. "Aye captain," he answered his captain's call.

"Have these two rats strapped to the bottom of the ship for the voyage back to the witch's lair," Jones ordered as the two looked in shock and fear at their current fate. Jones looked down at the two pirates with his still menacing glare, "Consider it a punishment for taking so long and... to get rid of that foul odor." Oglivey and Penrod blinked at that as they looked at the rest of the crew as the blocked their noses from the stench coming off the two pirates.

"Aye captain," Jimmy answered with glee in his voice before looking at the crew, "You heard the captain! Get these two smelly rats tied to the bottom of the ship," he ordered as two members of the crew grabbed Penrod and Oglivey and dragged them down to the bottom of the ship.

"As for the rest of you mangy dogs," Jones started in a commanding voice, "Get the ship ready to pull out and fix these holes in the deck. NOW!" Suddenly the ship was alive with the sounds of sails being released, wood being banged on the deck, and soon the ship sank beneath the waves on it's way to Ursula's New Lair with her prize on board.

 **Atlantica**

 **Early Morning (7am)**

The underwater city of Atlantica never looked more beautiful for those who lived there. The sunlight shining through the ocean's surface. For those who saw the city, it was a beautiful, and peaceful morning for everyone; the kind of morning where everyone is happy enough to wake up singing a song all throughout the kingdom. All in all, it was the perfect morning for everyone...

"ARIEL!"

Well... Almost everyone.

 **King Triton's Throne Room**

King Triton was in his throne as he always sat in when speaking to someone in his throne room. Before him were Ariel and Flounder who were looking surprised at Triton's anger at the moment, it was far from what they were expecting when Triton called his youngest daughter back to Atlantica.

"I can't believe you somehow managed to put yourself into even more danger then when you were living in the ocean," Triton almost yelled in dumbfounded anger at how his youngest daughter did the opposite as to why he had her stay with Eric. "When I left you with Eric on the surface, that meant he had to protect you, not leave you to go train, and fight an ancient army!" When Eric and the others were successful in stopping the Mandarin, the ocean was soon filled with stories and talks about their successes. It was as if the stories were a virus filled with excitement and inspiration that spread across the ocean at an incredible speed. When Triton heard of the stories though, he had a lot to talk with his daughter, especially the part where Eric was not with her for a good portion of the dangerous parts.

"But daddy, all that couldn't have been avoided. Eric only left to protect the others and myself from Ursula's puppet," Ariel explained while defending Eric's name while trying not to mention that it was Eric's friend and a recently reformed Olette who did all that. "That's why I went to train with Water Bending Masters. So I could defend myself if Eric and I became separated again along with not being a burden to him," Ariel explained her reasons for separating from the group after the events at the City of the Mandarin.

Entering the throne room at the moment walking on his flippers instead of swimming was an old sea turtle with large gray eyebrows currently carrying a container of old documents. This was Dudley, King Triton's best friend, and helper in the palace. "She... makes... a-"

"I know she does make a good point Dudley," Triton interrupted as he always knows what his friend is saying before the turtle finished. He then redirected his attention to Ariel as he swam over to her, "But that doesn't excuse the life threatening danger she put herself into even with Sebastian being the voice of reason." As soon as he was right before her, Ariel was expecting him to yell some more, but instead, he held her in a tight hug which led to her and Flounder having surprised expressions, "I am proud of how far you've come since you left home," he started with compassion in his voice at his youngest daughter's achievements while living on land, "and I know your mother would be too..."

Ariel continued to look surprise at her father's words compared to before with missing the concert and at her treasure trove. It was a side she never rarely saw her father show to her or her sisters. Strange her not, her words touched her heart as she realized that her adventures in China made her and her family worry about her. "Thank you daddy," she said as she returned the hug, "I'm sorry I made you worry. It's just... It was supposed to be an expedition and things got out of control."

"I know. The hu- You're future husband's destiny requires him to be in situations like before," King Triton said breaking the hug with a smile as he returned to his throne, "But I also feel your enjoyment of adventure is what led you into getting into even more danger while he was away," he said sternly again in his regular tone of voice.

'There's the King Triton I know,' Ariel, Flounder, and Dudley thought to themselves.

He sat in his throne, "Which is why-"

"Is she back?!"

A voice was heard from behind them as the four looked to see Ariel's older sister, Arista in the entrance hall with a concerning look on her face as she saw her father, Dudley, and then her younger sister who gained a smile on her face from seeing her.

"Ariel," Arista said with happiness in her voice as she swam over to Ariel, "You're back."

"Arista," Ariel responded back with equal happiness at seeing her sister again as they gave each other a quick hug, "I've missed you and everyone else."

"Me too," Arista said as the sisters broke away, "I just wish the others were here to see you-" she looks to see her father's smiling face but knows she's interrupting, "Oh sorry," she apologized for interrupting.

"No it's all right," her father responded as he knew Ariel's sisters missed her after all the months since Ariel was placed on the land for her safety. The two mermaids looked back up at their father, "Now Ariel, because of how things are... I believe another set of eyes on you are needed to ensure your protection."

Ariel looked in shock at this, "You mean... A babysitter," she asked in shocked surprise.

"No, of course not," The king said knowing how it sounded, "Just someone else there to ensure that you are safe and don't get into unnecessary danger," he explained as to wanting someone there to watch her back.

'That's a babysitter by definition,' Ariel thought with a deadpanned look on her face to how her father described it. She was unaware though that Flounder, Dudley, and even Arista were thinking the same thing, even if they knew that Triton saw it differently. "There's already Eric, Kida, Frey, and so many others who are there for me," Ariel defended herself still not liking the idea of what sounded like a babysitter. Even after hearing of her accomplishments, Ariel felt like Triton was still treating her like a child that needed protection, something that she always disliked. "Besides, with the new school year only a week away," Ariel continued, "going on another adventure is the last thing on everyone's mind." It was true, after the events in China, summer vacation for the teen heroes was nearly gone with only a week remaining.

"You're attending a human school now," Arista asked with shock in her voice at what her little sister was doing on land, "What if you're discovered by other humans," she asked with concern of her sister's secret being discovered by humans, and then eaten by them or an even worse fate.

Ariel looked at Arista while trying to best to keep her feelings of being treated like a child in check, "It's all right. No one suspects a thing and the others won't tell," Ariel explained to her worried sister and her silently worried father. "No one has to worry. I'm doing great on land with the others and now with my new skills. So there's no need for anyone else to watch me," Ariel said with a mix of growing anger and determination in her voice, "It's great to see you all again, but I have to head back and start getting school supplies with the others," she says knowing she had little time to get ready along with wanting to get away before they revealed whoever was assigned to babysit her. "Goodbye," she says as she turns and swims down the hall.

Arista looks at Ariel's retreating form with disappointment at her sister leaving so soon as she turns to her father, "I'll go talk to her," she says before swimming down the hall as well.

As Arista goes after the hurt Ariel, King Triton simply looks with a

"Well... she..." Dudley started to say.

"I agree Dudley," Triton interrupted his friend, "She did take that better than I thought she would," Triton admitted when he thought about how Ariel would take the idea of a bodyguard.

 **In the Ballroom**

"Ariel," Arista said as she swam after Ariel, "Wait!"

Ariel was swimming out of her former ballroom, with Arista behind her, as she continued to shake her head, not listening anymore, "No, Arista! I already have Sebastian and Dax watching out for me, and Eric and all my other friends are just fine. I don't need another bodyguard to ensure I'm safe."

"Ariel, be reasonable," Arista stated, as she swam next to her. "Dad would feel better, and I'd feel better… well, everyone would feel better if you had someone else with you."

Ariel stopped, as she and Arista stood at the edge of the doorway, as she crossed her arms, "Okay then… who?" Arista seemed to shy away, twiddling her fingers together, looking like she wanted to change the subject. Ariel, on the other hand, wasn't about to let it go, as she asked, "Well, Arista?"

"Well, I… um…" she struggled to say, until she finally heaved out a sigh.

However, it never came to be, as Ariel sighed, "Nevermind. I need to go." And she swam out of there, with a distraught looking Arista watching her nearly leave.

"Ariel, wait," she weakly spoke out. But it was too late, as Ariel's form disappeared into the deep blue horizon of the sea, heading back to Port Royal.

* * *

 **Well it looks like Ariel and Arista's sisterly bond has grown much weaker since they were kids... Hopefully they can repair the rope between them before it snaps for good. Especially with whatever Ursula is scheming using a relic from the past... But will this spell the end of just the land or the entire world...**

 **First off I want to thank those who were patient in waiting for this next chapter. I also want to thank Stone-Man85 for his help with the last part between the sisters.**

 **Sorry this took so long. Now that my place of employment has a new employee, I should have my weekends back again. Also as for why Ogilvey thought of a horse drawn carriage back in the sewers, it's because he, and most of the crew have been on the Flying Dutchman for who knows how long. They could've been recruited way before the time when automobiles and other modern day items didn't exist.**

 **Also I'm sorry if the ending of the Flying Dutchman crew feels weak. I wrote myself into a corner and couldn't find a way to make it sound better than that.**

 **Now I know that usually Ariel and Triton would blow their stacks like in the films and previously in the story... But I figured that by now, Triton realizes that he can't fully control his daughter because of having to let her go. Plus they both know what happened the last time their tempers got the better of them.**

 **Finally as before, I placed a little reference somewhere in this story, but this time it's a little more hidden. I'll answer what it is in the next chapter but let's see if anyone can find this one. Thanks for your patience and I hope you all enjoy this next chapter.**

 **Next Chapter: Truths Revealed & Plans Set in Motion **


	3. Chapter 3 Truths and Plans pt1

**Chapter 3: Truths Revealed & Plans Set in Motion pt. 1**

 **First off, I'm really sorry this took so long. I would've had it finished sooner if not for work and chores taking up most of my day. Originally chapters three and four were going to be one chapter, but it had a word count of over 13000, and I thought that would be too much to read in one sitting.**

 **Port Royal**

 **Thatch Residence**

 **8am (Friday)**

Despite the lack of sleep from the question of why destiny chose him, Eric was able to get a semi good rest as he came out of the bathroom. An hour after Ariel left, he had spent it staring at the sky for a sign for the answer to his question, but it never came. He and Dax returned to bed for the remainder of the trip home. The ship arrived in docks of Port Royal by 6am and then everyone went their separate ways home. Eric, Kida, Dax, Wally, and a still sleeping Sebastian all returned home by 6:45am, unpacked, and now going through their morning routines which would later include cleaning a very dusty house.

After leaving the bathroom, Eric walked through the hallway heading for the stairs when he passes by the open door to Ariel's room. Eric knocks on the door, "Ariel," he asked as he moved his head in to see if she was home yet. Only to find the room empty of life. 'She must still be at Atlantica,' he thought to himself as he walked past the room and headed for the kitchen for a morning shake, 'I hope it doesn't end like the last time,' he thought as he walked down the stairs remembering Triton's anger at his youngest daughter's tattoo.

Suddenly, Max came running out of Eric's room after just waking up, and seeing his master had left the room. "Arf Arf," Max barked happily around Eric who could only smile and laugh. "Good morning to you too Max," Eric said as he headed down the stairs with Max following him in order to gain breakfast and hopefully plan with him later on.

 **Kitchen**

As soon as the Seablade Bearer walked into the kitchen with his faithful dog, his somewhat tired expression changed to that of surprise. At the table sat Kida with a plate of at the table eating a freshly made set of toast and eggs while reading a newspaper. Eric smiled as he takes in the good feeling of things back to normal, as if the adventure in China never happened, and they all had just returned from Atlantis for the first time.

"Good morning Eric," Kida said with a smile after putting the paper down.

"Good morning Kida," Eric answered happily as he walked over to the fridge for breakfast, "I hope the early wake up call didn't ruin a good night's sleep for you."

"No," she said as she went back her breakfast and the paper catching up on what happened in Port Royal since they were gone, "It was no different from morning practice where we had to be ready to be up at anytime for the hunt," Kida explained referring to her time with her uncle learning how to hunt before meeting the group. "However it was the mornings without any prey that made them hard," Kida added to that fact as there were days where no prey was out so it made the early wake up call a waste.

"I think everyone hates that," Eric mentioned as he looked through the fridge, "I really need to thank Mr. Whitmore for sending over food on our way back from Atlantis. We've been away for so long, all the food from the last grocery trip are probably rotten by now." Before they left the newly risen Atlantis, Mr. Whitmore had sent over food for the group to have when they got back. Just another good gesture from the long time friend of the Thatch family.

"He is a good man," Kida said after finishing a mouth full scrambled eggs, "I wish my father could have met him and your grandfather."

Eric smiled as he pulled out the fruits and vegetables out for the fridge, "Me too." He wished his grandfather was alive today so he could show him so much. Ariel, his girlfriend and future wife, his new friends, Atlantis, and now share all the adventures he'd been on.

"By the way," Kida said hoping to change the subject, "Have you seen Dax this morning? He was not here looking for clams this morning like he usually is." When she came for breakfast, Kida found the kitchen clean, no signs of left over clams anywhere which was strange for morning with Dax as a roommate. Normally there would be a pile of clam shells from his breakfast in the sink or on the table along with the lingering smell of clams in the room. Today however, there was no trace of the otter, shells, or the smell in the kitchen.

"He came home with us this morning," Eric said as he put wet dog food into Max's bowl, and placed it on the floor for him who happily began eating it. Eric looked around and noticed the lack evidence that Dax had been there as well, "Maybe he's still asleep somewhere."

"He left a while ago..."

A muffled and monotone voice responded as Eric and Kida looked around for the source. Until they found it lying in the middle of the table. It was Sebastian with his legs and claws spread out and his face flat on the table. "He woke me up with his search for clams this morning mon. When I woke up though to tell him to stop, he told me he was going to look for clams and that he'll be back after Ariel gets back from the-" his voice stops for a moment as if the reminder was a dreadful thought for him, "...ocean," he squeaked in fear.

"Sebastian," Eric asked surprised he was on the table of all places, "What's the matter and why are you lying on the table? I thought you would be sleeping in Ariel's room," he asked as he didn't notice that Sebastian was on the bed where he left him when they came home.

"Indeed," Kida asked, "If you are feeling sad, shouldn't you be in the garbage area?"

'She must be talking about down in the dumps,' Eric thought to himself with Kida having trouble with some sayings on the land. "Kida, down in the dumps means he's depressed-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH EEEEEEEEAAWWW WAAAHHHHH WWWAHHH!"

The two were interrupted from Eric attempting to clear up the meaning behind the saying by Sebastian crying out in horror.

"ARIEL WENT TO SEE THE KING! WITHOUT ME! HE'S BOUND TO HAVE KNOWN WHAT BEEN HAPPENING IN CHINA BY NOW," he yelled out as tears like waterfalls fell from his eyes, "THE KING WILL KILL HIMSELF A CRAB FOR ALL THE DANGER THE GIRL HAS PUT HERSELF IN FOR SURE!" He finished yelling before he put his head back down on the table as he continued to cry at his impending doom.

'Oh that's right. You were still asleep when we came back to the house,' Eric thought as he looked at Sebastian crying remembering that he carried him in and put him in Ariel's bed without waking him up. "Well she ask me to say sorry for leaving you when she was called," he said while awkwardly smiling hoping that would help. It didn't though as Sebastian's wailing only became worse. Eric walked over to the table and began to pat Sebastian in support, "Don't worry Sebastian. I'm sure that King Triton understands," Eric says to cheer Sebastian up, "It was supposed to be a simple exploration trip. No one was expecting the Mandarin to awaken at the same time." Unfortunately this did not work as Sebastian continued to weep in fear. Eric looked out the window at the view of the beach, "Besides the ocean is really calm today," he said as he picked Sebastian up with his left hand, "If King Triton was angry, the ocean would show it like in the legends," Eric explained as he showed Sebastian the sea.

Sebastian stopped sobbing to see that Eric was correct. The sea was currently calm. As if it was the aftermath of a storm and the sea was resting from the force of the storm stirring it up. "You're right mon," Sebastian said with a sense of calmness in his voice and hope in his eyes, "Whatever they are talking about must be going well," he said as he looked at Eric and Kida with relief, "I bet they're having a great time right-"

"SLAM!"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH WWWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHH WWWWWWWAAAA!"

As soon as the sound of the door was heard, Sebastian's confidence ran out the door as he jumped down and started to cry at the feet of the one who opened the door, "I'M SORRY YOUR MAJESTY! SHE WAS TOO FAR IN BY THE TIME I CAUGHT UP WITH HER! I TRIED TO STOP HER AFTER THINGS GOT OUT OF CONTROL! PLEASE FORGIVE MEEEEEEEEEE," he yelled out while crying and begging for forgiveness due to thinking it was the King or another one of his daughters sent to retrieve him.

"Sebastian..."

Sebastian stops crying from the sound of his name from above him as he looks up to see the owner. It was Ariel back in her casual attire minus her boots and slightly wet as she had just come out of the ocean. Sebastian looks at Ariel and chuckles nervously, "Ummm... Good morning Ariel. We were just saying that the meeting with your father would go off without any trouble," he said nervously as she hid his claws behind him before awkwardly smiling. Ariel doesn't say anything for a minute, then she picks the crab up, and placed him on the table for his own safety. As he is lifted up, Sebastian's awkward smile becomes one of confusion and concern when he sees Ariel's expression which goes unseen by the two other teens.

Eric and Kida smiled at seeing their friend home. "Welcome home Ariel-," Eric happily said as he always felt a relaxing energy when with his future wife, "How did the-" he stops when he sees what made Sebastian's expression change. A very sad look in Ariel's eyes as if her confidence had been damaged. "What's wrong Ariel," he asked worried that something had happened back under the sea.

She looked at Eric's concerned expression along with Kida's and Sebastian's who were worried about her. She sighed as the feeling of anger and her hurt feelings slowly faded away at their presence, "Well it could have been a lot worse," she replied as she put Sebastian on the table, walked over to Eric, and hugged him. Eric was caught by surprise by this but soon returned the hug thinking the meeting didn't go well. She rested her head on his shoulder, 'I could stay in his arms like this forever,' she thought as she took in the warmth of Eric's body, and the feeling of safety she felt whenever she was near him.

Eric was blushing at his future wife suddenly hugging him, the warmth of her body, her arms on his chest, and the sweet smell of the ocean breeze coming off of her hair. He could tell when Ariel was happy, sad, or bothered about something, and right now she was bothered with something. "Ariel," he started to ask what was wrong.

"Thanks," Ariel broke the hug and smiled at her fiance, "I needed that."

Eric nodded his head, "I could tell," he said with a smile, "Are you ready for some breakfast," he asked her in case she didn't eat anything back in Atlantica.

"Am I ever, thanks," she said as she walked over to the cupboard for some bread to make toast with jam on it. That was something else she discovered about the surface, about fruits and vegetables that was found on trees or out of the ground. One of her favorites was strawberry jam with toast.

Eric and Kida smiled at the return of Ariel's positive mood even if slightly as she gathered all she needed for her morning meal, but Sebastian was still worried about what he kind said, and it was driving him nuts waiting for the answer. The two other teens sat back down at the table as Kida continued to eat her breakfast.

"So was everyone able to get a good night's sleep after getting home," Ariel asked as she put the bread in the toaster as she was hoping to not have to bring up the family meeting quite yet.

"Indeed," Kida said as she finished another bite of her eggs, "At least we did," Kida said as she referred to everyone in the household, "Once we arrived at port, Mr. Whitmore had a ride ready for us to go home with all our souvenirs." It was no surprised that during the trip, Eric and his friends had found many treasures over the travels in China on their quest to stop the Mandarin. Including the experiences they gained in their skills and the bonds that grew stronger between them and the new friends they made such as Ralph the gentle giant and Olette the former mad mermaid.

"Yep," Eric added after he finished his shake, "All your bags of things are safe in your room waiting to be added to your collection."

Ariel smiled with joy at this due to her love of collecting new things from the surface. After the managing to survive the army of the Mandarin, the heroes were able to celebrate and really treat their trip to China as a vacation and collect a large amount of treasures. "Thank you. I can't wait to sort them," she said as she finished setting up for breakfast with the plate, butter knife, and jam by the table. She then sat down at the table waiting for the bread to pop out. She then looked around at Eric and Kida smiling and enjoying the peace of the moment. 'They want me to talk about it,' she thought knowing that was the subject on their minds even if they didn't mean it to be. She then looked at Sebastian who was smiling but his eyes were asking her what happened in order to calm his nerves. She laughed a little bit, "You all want me to talk about what happened with Daddy don't you," she asked knowing that was on their minds.

'Boy am I easy to read,' the Sea Blade Bearer, the Child from Atlantis, and the Court Composer of King Triton thought in defeat.

Eric exhaled in defeat, "Yes," he admitted but he then reached for Ariel's hand, "But only because we're worried it didn't go well," he said remembering how sad she was when she walked in. "When you're ready to talk about it," he said with a reassuring smile on his face, "I'll be ready to listen like when you listen to my problems."

Ariel blushed at his words as he was willing to wait until she wanted to talk rather than force it out. She looked at Kida and Sebastian who gave the same assuring smiles that they would wait even if Sebastian was going mad with wanting to know if the King was angry at him. "Thank you," she said as she looked at them with a smile of renewed confidence, "all of you." The Youngest Daughter of the Sea King took a deep breath as she prepared herself to tell them. "Okay, the truth is that when Flounder and I went to see Daddy, he was angry at me for going into danger. Especially when Eric was off on his own training," Ariel started to tell them. This however lead to Sebastian biting his claws in fear of what would be said next.

"But that was not yours or Sebastian's fault," Kida said knowing that events unfolded beyond their control, "No one could have been prepared for what we found there. In fact Eric was telling Sebastian the same thing before you returned."

"So did I," Ariel replied to that, "I was expecting the usual angry yelling from him to be honest... But then he said how proud he was of how far I've come since leaving home and that my mother would be too," she finished with comfort in her voice at the better part of the conversation.

"Pheeewwwww," Sebastian said after he stopped chewing his claws in fear when he heard the King wasn't as angry as he thought he would be.

Ariel then sighed sadly as she looked down, "But then he and Arista said they wanted another set of eyes along with Sebastian to make sure I didn't get into any unnecessary danger. Even after hearing about my reasons to train with the WaterBending Masters," she finished remembering how angry she was at that.

"I KNEW IT! THE KING WANTS-" Sebastian started to yell in fear of his doomed fate. Until he processed what Ariel had said as he went bug eyed, "He wants me to have a partner," he asked clearly stupefied by the king's plan.

"More like a babysitter," Ariel said with a mix of anger and sadness in her voice as she looked down at the table. If Eric and Kida could see past Ariel's hair which was covering her face, they would see a sad expression on her face, "I just don't understand it," she started to say, "I've fought against dead pirates, trained with WaterBending Masters, helped fight off an immortal army, and even helped raise a lost continent. Yet my father and even my sister still treats me like I'm a five year old," she said feeling like she would always be seen as the Max walked over and placed his head on Ariel's thigh as he whimpered trying to comfort her. Ariel slightly smiled as she began to pat Max's head.

Kida who had a sympathetic expression on her face, walked over, and patted Ariel's right shoulder. "I know what that is like Ariel. It took many years before father allowed me to learn how to hunt and fight, let alone going on hunting trips with my uncle," Kida revealed as her father's need to protect her was just as strong as King Triton's.

Ariel looked up and smiled at her friend, "Thanks Kida," she said, but then Ariel looked to the side where a silent Eric was sitting, "You don't think I need extra protection," she asked her boyfriend and true love worried he would take her father's side in this discussion, "Do you?"

Eric was quiet as he looked at Ariel's nervous expression at his answer along with Kida and Sebastian as they looked at him waiting for his answer as well. "Of course not," Eric immediately said, "If anything, the bad guys are the ones that need protecting from your waterbending skills," he said while smiling admitting how skilled he saw Ariel as with her bending. This earned him a beautiful smile of happiness from Ariel who was glad that he wasn't underestimating her. "But I can also understand why his highness brought it up," Eric continued as the others became silent to hear his reasoning, "I mean, I did leave the group after the City of the Mandarin to protect everyone from Seifer, so I can understand his reasoning behind it."

"Daddy did use that example in the meeting," Ariel admitted as the king used that as an example of the danger she was in, "But I stood up for you since you did that to protect us."

"Thanks Ariel," Eric said as he knew Ariel would stand up for him just as he would do the same for her, "I know that what your father and sister said sounded hurtful, but I don't think they meant it to be. For them, you were miles away from the sea, and they had no way of getting to you in time. I think even if they had the wrong idea for how to protect you, they had the best intentions at heart."

Ariel looked surprised at Eric's answer, he wasn't taking her father's side but Eric could see the reasons behind her father's idea. "I never thought of it that way," she admitted as she looked down at the table feeling saddened for what she said, especially Arista who were only trying to help her, 'I went through the same thing worrying about Eric and the others, but my family had it worse since they were even further away...'

Eric looked at Ariel's sad expression as he then felt bad about his answer making it worse without meaning to, "Ariel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it-" He was stopped by Kida holding her hand in front of him. Eric looked at Kida who had a sad yet serious expression on her face. Kida shook her head no as if trying to tell Eric he didn't do anything wrong. He understood that but still didn't feel any better about it.

Kida on the other hand didn't like seeing her friend like this anymore than Eric did. 'There must be something we can do,' Kida thought as she looked at Ariel feeling blue from her meeting. She then noticed an article in the paper that caught her eye. She picked up the paper and took a closer look at the article, 'This could work,' she thought in excitement at the idea.

"Eric," Kida said getting the couple's attention as she looked at a particular article in the paper, "The morning parchment mentions an event of some sort for the end of the Sokumr."

Eric who was unsure what Kida was talking about walked over as she handed him the newspaper to see what she was referring to. After a quick look, he found the article, and suddenly understood what Kida was talking about. "Oh yeah. The Summer Festival. I completely forgot about this," Eric said as he looked at the picture with the date and time.

"The Summer Festival? What's that," Kida asked as Ariel walked over and looked over Eric's right shoulder at the article while Kida looked at it from Eric's right side.

"It's a weekend party that's held at the end of the summer that everyone is invited to," Eric began to explain, "There are games, different kinds of food, activities, a live band, and fireworks on the last night. It's sort of Port Royal's way to saying goodbye to summer vacation since school starts that week."

Ariel gained an excited expression on her face, "That sounds a lot like the carnival I went to once with Arista," she said as she remembered the time she was beached when she argued with Arista in front of Triton. It turned out to be a good thing when alligators tried to rob the royal treasury. The sisters were able to overcome their differences, stopped the robbery, and earned their father's permission to go.

"I remember dat day," Sebastian who was on Ariel's shoulder said as he remembered being kidnapped and amazed at the teamwork the two bickering sisters showed that day.

"I have never been to one of these festivals," Kida admitted as she looked at the paper as well, "Atlantis was always struggling to survive, so the closest thing to that would be the coronation and wedding of my sister and Milo, and the celebration of Atlantis returning to the surface. Have you ever been to this party Eric?"

"Not for the last few years. I usually went surfing all day before school started and the weather became cold again," Eric explained as his hopes of seeing Ariel again was stronger than going to the fair. He had hoped that when the beach was empty all but him, he would get his chance to see her again with the beach being empty. Eric than chuckled, "That and Frey kept trying to get me to date of the girls that came to visit Port Royal for the summer," he admitted as he remembered all the times that Frey would try to get him to forgot the mystery girl and hook up with a real girl, 'Fortunately for me, my patience was rewarded with a one of a kind girl,' he thought to himself.

"In that case," Kida said as she stood up straight with a smile of enthusiasm on her face, "We should go to festival and give our goodbyes to the summer the best we can," she finished as she looked at the others for their responses.

"That's a great idea," Ariel said with a smile on her face, "A festival is just the thing we need to relax and let loose after our adventures in China."

"As long as it's not like that time we went clothes shopping," Sebastian said getting Ariel's attention, "Than I'm all for it too," he finished as he remembered the kitchen where he saw all the cooked fish. He shivered from the chill in his spine caused by the memory of it.

Ariel smiled at Sebastian's answer as she looked at Eric, "Will you come Eric," she asked hoping his answer would be yes.

Eric nodded at the idea, "That's not even a question," he responded as he put the paper down, "Of course I'll come. A day without the world in danger with everyone is just what I need," he finished as he saw it as a time to spend with Ariel and the others and get his mind off his destiny.

"Fantastic," Ariel said with the idea of the joys of the festival going through her mind, the new kinds of food, activities, music, and time alone with Eric went through her mind as she imagined the two of them kissing under the light of fireworks. Ariel snapped out of her daydream as she had an idea as shown with her face becoming bright from it. "I just had an idea," she started as she headed for the door.

"Ariel," Eric started as he tried to stop Ariel, "Wait a minute-"

"Don't worry," she said as she headed for the door outside, "I'll be back in a little while. I'm just going to take care of something to make the festival even better." She walked out with Sebastian holding on to her shoulder strap and then stuck her head back in a second later, "See you both later today," she said as she waved goodbye before moving away from the door.

Eric just looked at Ariel leaving as he waved weakly, "It's just-" he started just as the toaster popped with her toast, "You forgot your breakfast," he said weakly before he sighed in defeat. "I'll just leave it for when she gets back. I wonder what she had in mind though," he asked out loud wondering what Ariel had in mind. He looked at Kida, "What do you think Ki-" he started to ask only to see Kida staring into space with a blush on her face. She was currently imagining spending her first festival with Frey and then the two kissing under the starry sky. A Confused Eric and Max looked at the Atlantean Warrior Princess unsure what to think of this. He finally chuckled to himself before sighing to himself while putting his hands behind his head, "Its good to be home," he finally said out loud enjoying this peaceful time.

 **Atlantica**

At the same time in the palace, Arista swam through the hallways on her way to her room. 'Why don't you understand Ariel,' Arista asked herself in confusion about Ariel denying her family's help, 'We're all just worried about you. So why are you taking the Seablade Bearer's side over your family's?' She finally arrived at the door to her room, only to see a large pile of letters addressed to her and her sisters next to her door. She sighed in exhaustion knowing what those were, 'Oh no. This is the last thing I need right now,' she thought as she entered her room ignoring the letters.

Inside was the shared bedroom the sisters had used for years, the same old room with all of their things and beds in the same positions. However unlike the last few days when it was usually filled with girls getting ready for the day, it was an empty with only Arista in it. She swam over and fell onto the bed with her back up and a look of frustration and sadness on her face as her head rests on her pillow.

'Why did she have to leave us for that fish eating human,' she thought to herself. Ever since Ariel went to live on the surface, things weren't the same in Atlantica. Sure Ariel being there didn't affect her royal schedule along with her sisters' schedules, but seeing Ariel happy, and going on an adventure with her from time to time was fun for her. A way for Arista to get away from her royal duties. But after Ariel traded Atlantica for the surface, things slowly changed. The happiness that Ariel brought to them, the same that saved the kingdom from Triton's guilt over his wife's death slowly weakened. The sisters were shocked to learn of what happened to their sister, even more so that their father would allow it. Their greatest fear was their youngest sister being a victim of humans, however news of that never came from Sebastian. When the stories of Ariel and her friends adventures reached Atlantica through the residents of the sea, the citizens were amazed and inspired by her achievements, and began to look at Eric and his friends in a new light. Her family however despite being proud of her, was also shocked by how much danger she ended up in.

She exhaled as if trying to get the feeling of defeat out of her system. Unfortunately this didn't work. She looked to her left of her bed to see her old sea clarinet that she used to play when she was in the Cat Fish Band. "Aaahhh," she sighed as she sat up on her bed, picked up the instrument from the floor, and looked at it with nostalgia in her eyes as she smiled at it. 'Those were some of the best times,' the third youngest daughter of Triton thought to herself, 'Being in front of the cheering crowd, the music from the band all around me, and just being a part of it,' she thought as she remembered all of her time with the band. Unfortunately, it didn't last due to the band going on tour. She had to leave the band due to her royal duties in Atlantica. Fortunately, her bandmates understood, and said she would always be a member of the band to them. That made her leaving feel better but all of her duties kept her from practicing her instrument. 'With helping daddy with appearances, my sisters with their problems, and Ariel, I feel like all that would come out is noise,' she thought as she put her instrument back by her bedside dresser.

Unfortunately, the warm moment she had ended as she remembered her present problem with Ariel. Arista's eyes formed an angry glare as she the thought of Ariel's actions played out in her mind, "Does your family's concern mean nothing to you," she asked herself in anger as she grabbed her pillow, placed it on her face, and screamed her without disturbing anyone else in earshot of her frustrated scream. As if the scream had all her strength put into it, Arista fell backwards onto her bed out of exhaustion, only to feel a pain in the back of her head. "Oww! What the-" she started to ask as she got up to look at what her head landed on.

As she looked at the spot, her face becomes surprised at what she saw. There sitting where her pillow would usually be was a familiar looking square green object. She reached out and picked up the object as she moved so she was sat on the edge of the bed. She looked at the object with wide eyes, "So this is where I hid it last," Arista said out loud as she turned the object around to see a familiar cover. It was none other than the book Ariel found all those years ago, the Legend of the Giants. After that first night, Ariel would read it out loud every night. That made it hard for Arista to sleep due to how much the story of giant monsters scared her, so when Ariel was away one day, Arista hid the book in a different hiding place each day. When Ariel asked if she'd seen it, Arista said she probably misplaced it somewhere. After Ariel had given up, Arista stopped moving it, and forgot all about it.

Despite feeling uncomfortable holding something she knew scared her, the mermaid opened the book, and skimmed through the pages as she looked at the illustrations of the story. Only to cringe in fear of the ones of the giants eating people. Her face showing awkward fear on it after seeing the parts of the story that scared her when she was younger, 'It was scary when I was younger and it's just as nerve wracking now,' she thought as she closed the book 'Aside from Ariel, who would believe such a-'

Knock Knock

Arista's train of thought was derailed by a knock on the door which caused her to jump in surprise and hold the closed book tightly to her body.

"Arista?"

She knew that voice anywhere, it was her father's voice coming from outside the door, "Yes Daddy? You can come in," she said giving the okay for her father to come in. The King of the Seas without his trident swam into the room and over to Arista's bed.

Triton looked at his third youngest daughter who had her back turned and head down showing she was depressed. Not that he could blame her after how Ariel responded to their idea of another set of eyes to make sure she was safe. "How are you doing," he asked her as he sat next to his daughter.

"Fine I guess," Arista admitted as she knew Ariel response could have been a lot worse, "How about you daddy," she asked.

"Fine," Triton admitted, "Although I realize I could have handled my request to Ariel a little better," he said feeling like he might have had a better response if he did not make it sound he wanted a babysitter for Ariel.

"You didn't handle it wrong daddy," Arista protested as she looked at her father's depressed expression, "Ariel is the one who took it the wrong way. I think she has become overconfident from her time on land."

"Yes. She has come a long way since leaving home," Triton admitted, "But I'm still proud of her as I am of you Arista and your sisters. I know it's been hard though with your sisters being away, I'm in royal meetings all day, and you being here by yourself," Triton said comforting his daughter knowing how lonely she must be feeling.

Arista thought about it for a moment before a memory flashes back before her eyes.

 **Flashback**

Two days earlier, the bedroom of Triton's daughters was filled the sounds of teenage girls packing in a hurry.

"Hurry girls," the eldest sister, Attina said as she grabbed the last few things she needed to pack from her shelf, "Our ride will be here any minute," she finished as she swam over to the window to see if the ride had arrived yet.

As the eldest kept an eye out for their transport, four of her seven sisters were getting ready. Alana was packing as many beauty products she needed for the trip, Adella was packing accessories to get the boys attention, Aquata was carrying her bags of things and hiding other items of hers to ensure Arista didn't use them while she was away, and Andrina was packing all the things she needed including her joke notes.

"We're hurrying Attina," Aquata said as she packed her night mask, "But you didn't give us much notice about this plan of yours."

"She's right," Alana said as closed her bag, "You only told us about your plan yesterday," she finished as she carried it over to the door.

Attina swam back over and moved her bag by the door. "There was no time. Besides with how the news has been moving through the sea lately," Attina explained as she moved her own bags by the door, "We would be followed for sure by more royal messengers."

"Oh come on. It's not that bad," Adella said as she sat on her bag in order to fit everything in, "I mean sure, Ariel gets tons of fan mail and wedding proposals, but we've been getting them just as much. Sure we keep having reporters ask us about Ariel making it hard to have any privacy but it's better than bad publicity, right," she asked her sisters. With Ariel being on land most of the time, her sisters had been approached my reporters and fans for questions about their younger sister. That and their popularity also sky rocketed to the point of receiving marriage proposals as well. "Besides some of the reporter merman are pretty cute," the boy crazy Adella said with the idea of so many boys to choose from.

This caused her sisters to sigh at Adella's search for a boyfriend. Andrina, the jokester of the family simply made a funny face by pushing her cheeks in with her index fingers behind her boy crazy sister's back. "I for one am all for this trip," Andrina said after stopping as she picked up her bag, "Ever since the reporters and royal messengers started to show up, it's been harder and harder to enjoy an afternoon of swimming with the dolphins without a request to talk popping up." Aside from joking around, Andrina loved swimming with her dolphin friends, and exploring like Ariel except around the ocean rather than the looking for items from the surface. "Most of them are killjoys who don't seem to take jokes at all," Andrina finished as she put her bag with the others after swimming over with it.

"Right," Alana said not really taking that last part seriously. She looked at Adella, "So how did Arista take the plan when you told her Adella," she asked her sister wondering how Arista reacted when she was told about it.

Adella snapped out of her boy daydream as she gained a confused look on her face while looking at Alana, "What? I- I thought Aquata told her since it she talks to Arista the most," Adella answered as she referred to Aquata and Arista's arguing over Aquata's things.

Aquata put her bag down just in time to hear her sister's answer and gain her own surprised expression. "But I thought Attina was going to tell her since it was her idea," Aquata said as she looked at the eldest sibling who gained her own surprised expression.

"I thought Alana was because of her going with her to the store this morning," Attina said referring to when Alana asked Arista to help her buying groceries and helping her avoid the royal messengers in town.

The four girls gained became worried thinking that Arista wasn't informed of the plan as a silence of hurried thinking filled the room.

"Why didn't anyone assume I was going to ask her?"

The silence was broken by Andrina who was the only one who wasn't assumed she was going to tell Arista. Before they could answer the second youngest daughter, the loud slam of the door filled the room.

The girls looked in the direction of the door to see Arista who has her back against the door with her arms spread across it, and a look of panic on her face shown by her wide eyes, and open lips revealing her clenched teeth. "What do I have to tell the royal messengers that my answer is no," she asked out loud before taking in a deep breath from quickly swimming to avoid their requests. She looked at her sisters to see all of them with their packed bags and surprised looks as they looked at Arista at the door. A confused Arista looked at her sisters as they were now caught red handed, "What's going on here? Are we going somewhere and someone forgot to tell me," she asked both confused and slightly annoyed at that.

"Not exactly but I'm sorry," Attina said as she swam over to Arista, "We all thought one of us told you what was going on. But no one did."

'Although Alana had the best chance,' Adella, Aquata, and Andrina thought to themselves.

"The truth is Alana won a contest at the store she goes to the Winter Land Resort and we only found out about this yesterday," Attina explained to her sister as comfortable and reasonable as she could.

"I see," Arista said understanding the late notice as she had been trying to avoid the messengers all morning after picking up some items at the store. "I can start packing now and be ready in a few minutes though."

"No you can't," Alana said looking sympathetic for her sister, "You see, the prize was only five tickets. So only five of us can go."

Arista looked disappointed at this new piece of news, "Oh... So basically I'm being left behind to deal with the suitors while the rest of you go and hide from them," Arista said pretty much seeing what her sisters were up to. The fact that they didn't try to deny it and looked nervous from her seeing through their plan didn't help either.

"Well that's one way to look at it," Andrina said smiling nervously at this, "But there's actually another really good reason why you're staying- I mean we need you here," she explained while correcting herself.

Arista looked confused by her younger sister's comment as Aquata swam over to her.

"You see I heard Daddy said he plans to call Ariel back when she's on her way back from Atlantica to talk to her. This will be the first time Ariel has been home in months and could be the best time to convince her to stay here rather than on the surface," Aquata explained the details of Arista's role in the plan.

"But she won't listen to me let alone agree to that," Arista argued as she saw the uselessness of this plan, "She's too in love with that human Eric, especially now that they're engaged to each other. Besides that didn't work last time when you went to get her Aquata."

"True," Adella responded while she was at the window keeping an eye out for the bus, "But last time Eric was here to talk with Daddy as well. This time, he won't be here to distract Ariel. Just convince her to stay until we get back in a week and we'll all be here to help you fully convince her."

"Besides," Aquata said getting a still unconvinced Arista's attention, "You're closer to her than we are, so you have a better chance of getting her to stay here."

"We haven't been that close since the concert though," Arista brought up as she still didn't believe she could do this, "Besides, how do I get her to-"

"The bus is here," Adella said out loud as she swam for bag with an excited expression on her face, "See ya Arista."

"Bye."

"Good luck."

"Have a good week and please don't tell the messengers where we are."

Aquata, Andrina, and Alana said as they followed after Adella out the door past Arista and Attina. She picked up her bag and swam over to Arista who had a sad look on her face. "I'm sorry we dopped this on you out of the blue," she apologized to her younger sister, "I know you'll be able to do it Arista," she said before hugging Arista. She broke the hug and swam out the door, "Good bye," she said as she swam down the hall.

Arista floated there feeling defeated in this and felt like this wasn't going to work, "Bye," she said weakly feeling like she had just gotten the short end of the coral. She sighed in defeat before swim over to the window to see the girls pile in. She waved goodbye doing her best to maintain a smile despite the sadness in her heart. The bus pulled away and Arista was left alone with the most difficult job she ever had.

 **End of Flashback**

Arista snapped out of the memory that played before her eyes, "Yes... It's been so lonely," Arista said as a part of her didn't mind the quiet after her sisters made their request to try and keep Ariel in Atlantica. 'I'm in no rush for them to get home to find out Ariel isn't here,' she thought to herself as she sighed and looked down. "Daddy, do you miss Ariel," she asked him.

"Every day," he answered while holding Arista's shoulder, "I miss her everyday just as I would miss you and your sisters if any of you were away."

Arista turned to face her father, "But why do you allow her to stay up there," she asked him, "Ursula hasn't been seen in months and she could appear anytime. Wouldn't Ariel be safer if she was here with us and not on the surface," she finished. She thought that since Ariel would be targeted by Ursula at anytime, she would be safer with her family rather than on the surface far from them.

The king looked at his daughter, an example of his prejudice way of thinking of humans. Years of hating them for hunting fish and polluting his ocean, "There are times I think so as well," King Triton said, "But I always remember that keeping her in one place is what caused all of this. My law of staying away from the surface and destroying her treasures is what led her to go to Ursula. I may not like the fact that she's living on land, but I know she's happy there, and with her new friends. That's enough for me," Triton admitted to his daughter showing that he had a great deal of guilt for causing all this.

Arista looked surprised by this as she looked away taking in the fact that her father was okay with all this while also taking responsibility for what he did. 'Still... She could still be,' Arista thought in concern for her sister of the surface world and humans.

King Triton looked at his daughter knowing she was feeling lonely without her sisters around her the band she was in on tour in another part of the ocean. He then noticed the book next to Arista's side. "Arista, what's that next to you," he asked her.

Arista snapped out of her train of thought from her father's voice as she looked at what Triton was referring to. "Oh this," she asked as she passed the book to him, "It's something Ariel found when she and I were still kids. She wanted to explore a sunken human ship but I was afraid she would get hurt, so I went with her," she explained as Triton looked at the book.

"She was looking at human things even back then," he asked in shock. He was angry when he found out about her collection, but he never thought about how long she had been doing it for.

"I don't know how long, but I only went once with her since you were away that day," she answered honestly, "I didn't know she continued to collect them either because she didn't really invite me."

"I see," Triton he said as he looked through the book when a thought occurred to him, "Was that why you and Ariel were arguing during the last carnival," he asked remembering when he had to beached Ariel and Arista from the carnival.

Arista looked away, "That was... part of the reason," she said remembering that day. It started out bad, but then became great when the two were able to mend their bond by stopping alligators from robbing the royal treasury. 'That was probably the last time she and I did anything together,' she thought sadly at how her sisterly bond with Ariel was weakening again even before she left Atlantica. She then noticed her father looking surprised by the book's contents, "It's a ridiculous story isn't it," Arista said out loud showing she didn't believe it, "A land filled with giant human eating monsters and coral that can reach the sky," she continued while comparing the beanstalk to coral, "Only humans would think of such a far fetched story as that," she finished while laughing to herself.

"The story is real."

Arista stopped laughing when she heard what her father said. She looked at the king a little surprised by his words, "You mean it's a real big lie right," she asked him hoping she misheard him.

"No Arista," King Triton said as he closed the book and looked at the cover nostalgically, "It's a true story. I never thought that humans would remember it though."

Arista was now filled with a mix of fear and confusion as she took this in. Finally she weakly laughed a bit, "Okay, I get it. You're joking daddy," she said while continuing to laugh, "That's a good one. You- you had me going there for a few seconds."

"I'm serious Arista," Triton said with no sense of humor in his voice as he looked at his daughter. He looked back at the book, "This book is the human side of the story my grandfather Neptune told me when I was very young," he explained to his daughter, "Of how monsters from the sky invaded the land, how a noble human king asked for Neptune's aid along with the King of Atlantis to protect the world." He opened the book and turned to the page of the battle with the three armies, "One of the first kings of Atlantica and wielder of the Trident led the army of the sea," he explained as he pointed at the army using water to fight the giants. He then pointed to the army calling down lighting, "The army of the skies were the Atlanteans," he continued as he turned the page to the page with the three kings, "When the war ended, the world celebrated like never before. It was a time when humans, Atlanteans, and Merfolk lived in peace. However before departing, the three leaders agreed to take, and hide each relics of the war to ensure they never be misused. We kept the Crown of Giants, the Atlanteans took the Stalkman Staff, and King Erik kept the seeds and agreed to take them to their graves." He closed the book again and traced his hand across the book.

"So there are giants that eat humans in one bite out there," Arista said calmly as she took that in while trying to hide the fear from her childhood, "The whole story is true."

"Yes," Triton admitted, "But the giants are trapped in their homeland and the only way to bridge the gap between the surface world and theirs is hidden in King Erik's grave. Just like how the crown is buried with the previous king of Atlantica with the tomb hidden from our records. Besides, the humans have most likely believe it's just a fairy tale."

"Yeah, but still," Arista said as she was still taking this in, "To think something so unbelievable-"

"Excuse the intrusion your majesty..."

King Triton and Arista turned to see Horace the Seahorse by the door bowing in respect before looking up again, "But the rulers of the other seas have arrived for the yearly meeting."

"Thank you Horace, I'll be right there," the king said as he saw Horace bow again before she swam to the royal meeting room. "We'll talk later tonight," he said as he hugged Arista. After a minute, he let go, and swam for the door.

"Daddy," Arista asked before he left the room, "Do you trust the human Eric," she asked him wanting to know his answer.

"Before all of this, my answer would've no," he said, "But after all I've heard of his actions, about how far he'll go to protect Ariel and his friends, and how much he truly loves her. Yes, I do along with his friends. I now believe that there are some good humans and I'm happy knowing my daughter is with one of them," he answered honestly without a sign of lying on his face.

A wide eyed Arista took that in but didn't say anything for a moment. "Thanks Daddy," she said with a smile, "For listening to me. Have a good meeting." She saw her father nod and swim out of the room, she exhaled heavily and sat back down on the bed. 'Wow... This day is just full of surprises,' she thought to herself as she took in her father's new look on humans and his feelings about Ariel on land. But the one thing that was the biggest shock to her was the story that scared her being non fiction. 'Aside from that though, if I don't do something and soon, Ariel may never come home even if Ursula is captured. But how can I talk to her without Eric in the way,' she thought to herself as she tried to think of a way.

The deep in thought mermaid looked to her left where Aquata's bed was along with her bedside table. On the table, left behind by Aquata was the bracelet, the very same one she used to visit Ariel on land with legs. Arista swam over and looked at it as an idea began to flow into her mind, one that made her feel uncomfortable, "If I can't bring her back... I'll just have to go to her," she said to herself knowing what she had to do as she picked up the bracelet.

 **Chapter 4: Truths Revealed & Plans set in Motion pt. 2**


	4. Chapter 4 Truths and Plans pt2

**Before anything else, I want to thank Stone-Man85 for his help with part of this chapter, and for his patience with how long this took. Also slight spoilers from his wikia site, just as a warning.**

 **Chapter 3: Truths Revealed & Plans Set in Motion pt. 2**

 **North Pole**

 **Ursula's New Lair (Mid Afternoon)**

The sea witch simply sat in her ice throne, the cold flowing up her bottom through her body. To normal people, it would lead to freezer burn with prolonged exposed to such cold directly on the body. For Ursula though, the feeling of cold was overshadowed by a burning anger inside her. 'What is taking them so long,' she thought with a glare on her face, 'They should've been back before Eric and his little friends returned to their home!' The thought of the Sea-Blade Bearer, his mermaid future wife, and all their friends made her blood boil, "How is it possible," she asked herself out loud as she swam over to her cauldron, and waved her right arm to create two bubbles that rose up from it. The bubbles then showed an image of Eric and Ariel in their adventure attire in each bubble as Ursula glared at them, "How is it this surfing bum and his little tramp managed to ruin my plans time and again," she asked herself in anger. She removed the bubbles and brought up images of her past plots.

"I attempted to use the foolish love Triton's pretty little daughter had for a human to force Triton to hand over his trident," she said to herself as the bubbles formed images of Ariel in a heart before it was wrapped in Ursula's contract with the trident next to it. "But that foolish boy ruined that plan by making me drop the contract into the Kraken!"

She waved her hands again as the images disappeared and were replaced with images of the Atlantis, the Heart of Atlantis, and Rourke. "I had Jones use his crew to work with the human mercenary Rourke in order to gain the Third Heart of the Sea," Ursula said out loud before swiping the illusions away as images of Kida and Wally takes their place, "But he failed and the Seablade Bearer's added the princess of Atlantis and that Atlantean junk heap to his circle of friends!"

Ursula then angrily swiped her hand again for another set of images, this time of Olette, Frey, the Flameblade formally the Darkblade, the Huns, the Mandarin, and his heralds, "Most recently, I had my former apprentice Olette recruit my chosen bearer of the Darkblade, and resurrect the Mandarin in order to manipulate him into giving me the Heart of Atlantis!" Then all the images other than Olette and Seifer disappeared and were replaced with images of Stitch, and Ralph, "But not only was the Mandarin defeated by the Seablade Bearer, but Olette decided to become friends with that little tramp, my chosen bearer broke free of my control over him, their inner circle of friends grew again, and the group has grown even stronger thanks to this last plan!" Ursula was right to be frustrated, with every failure to gain the Three Hearts of the Sea, she made her enemies even stronger with new friends and powers such as Eric and Seifer's training with their blades, Ariel and Olette's water bending skills improving thanks to the Water Bending Masters, and Frey adding the Dagger of Time and Frey's new flying carpet to his arsenal.

She growled in frustration as she dispelled the images from her cauldron, "They may have stopped me so far," she said while making tight fists, "But my new plan won't fail like before! This time, I shall win, and become ruler of the seas," she yelled out in premature triumph before laughing to herself before stopping and folding her arms with an impatient glare on her face, "As soon as that slow poke Jones finally gets here-"

"Speak of the devil..."

Ursula stopped grumbling to herself and turned towards the evil voice coming from the doorway leading out of her cold lair. "And he shall appear," the voice finished revealed to be Jones as he walked in with Ratlin and Palifico, Jones' personal bodyguard behind him.

Despite the surprise Ursula felt from being caught by surprise by the return of Jones' crew, she turned to face them with her still annoyed expression. "It's about time you got back! You were supposed to be back before that surfing bum and his friends returned from Atlantis," Ursula said as she pointed out that Jones was late as she pointed to her cauldron as it formed an image of Eric's home with Eric outside enjoying the peace of the day. Thanks to Maccus and Koleniko hiding by the sea, Ursula was able to keep an eye on Eric's home without being suspected.

"You can thank the landlubbers who took their time delivering your precious item," Ratlin replied not caring if they kept the witch waiting or not.

"Aye, we be forced to wait three days for that blasted ship to arrive," Jones added as he disliked the witch's tone of voice she used to address him, "We might have been back sooner if we had attacked the ship as we usually do."

"It was too risky," Ursula explained still annoyed, "If Thatch found out you attacked a ship, he and his friends may suspect we're up to something if they knew what was on the ship," Ursula said as she wanted to keep her plan a secret so that by the time her plan was complete, it would be too late for Wielders of Destiny to interfere. "You didn't leave anything behind that would lead to those kiddies knowing you were there did you," Ursula demanded to know if they had left clues behind.

This earned a laugh from Palifico, "You can ask Oglivey and Penrod when the captain feels generous," Palifico explained while Ratlin chuckled as well as they knew that would be a long time before that happened.

Ursula directed her glare at Jones for an answer. Jones simply gave her his trademark glare, "I'll ask the smelly rats when I return to the ship. In the meantime," Jones pulled out the orb used to hold the small bag that Penrod and Oglivey stole from the museum, "I do a great many things for you witch, but if you think you can send me to do you personal shopping for something as pointless as a little bag, than you are sorely mistaken," Jones said with clear anger in his voice as he saw Ursula's recent arrand as a waste of time and then tossed the orb to her.

"YOU FOOL," Ursula yelled in horror as she grabbed the orb to prevent it from hitting the icy floor. She turned her attention to Jones after ensuring the contents of the orb was safe, "If anything happened to this, all that time you spent waiting for that ship would've been wasted," Ursula yelled at Jones for almost ruining one of the key items in her new plan.

"What? Are you gonna try and trade that little bag for Triton's Trident," Jones mockingly joked at what he thought was Ursula's new plan as the other two members of his crew laughed at that.

"Hardly and it's what in the bag that matters," Ursula said with disdain for Jones' mockery. Then she held the orb before them, "This is bag of beans," the witch of the seas began to explain as she held it up over her head, "will allow me to gain control a force so powerful, nothing will stop me. Not Triton, the Seablade Bearer, and not even Atlantis," she said triumphantly as her laugh echoed out of her lair and a evil winter wind howled outside. She stopped though when she noticed that Jones and his crew had dead panned expressions at Ursula's premature victory laugh.

"Beans... You sent me and me crew to Port Royal, made me wait for three days for that blasted ship to arrive, deal with two smelly crewmates, and damaged to my ship," Jones began to say as he went over all that happened during his errand as his anger began to rise more and more, "All that... just to do... your GROCERY SHOPPING," he yelled in rage as his eyes burn with anger as his tentacles moved around to show his anger at Ursula. To some, it was like watching a volcano erupt in human form.

"These are not just any beans," Ursula answered despite hiding the feeling of fear from Jones' anger, "These are the beans in King Erik's tomb, the hero of the Great Giant War centuries ago!" She held the orb before Jones and his crew members, "With these, I will bring the giants of Giant's Land down here and use them to force Triton to practically hand over his trident," she explained revealing her intention to use the power of the giants against her lifelong enemy.

"Ye plan to bring those monsters down here," Jones exclaimed in further anger and shock, "I saw what those greedy creatures are capable of before I commanded the Flying Dutchman! What makes you think you can control them without the crown, let alone use them against Thatch, his friends, and that old king," Jones demanded to know how the witch planned to keep the man eating Giant in check.

"I already have that taken care of. As for Thatch, that's because this time," Ursula said as she went to her cabinet, "By the time the surfing bum and his little tramp find out what I'm up to, it will be too late to stop it," she explained as pulled out potions in order to prepare for her new plan. "Soon Triton and all he loves will be groveling for mercy before me and my new army," she finished as she swam below to continue preparing for new plan.

Jones and his crew just watched her as she swam to the basement of her icy lair. Palifico looked at his captain, "Why are we still going along with this witch and her doomed plans captain," he asked him not liking how he had to keep putting up with Ursula and her arrogance, "All we're doing is wasting time when we should be attacking ships."

"Aye, I too tire of the witch and her pointless plots. But she has her uses," Jones answered, "Even if this plan is insane," he finished before turning his head to look at Ratlin, "Go and see if the two smelly rats are ready to be untied from the ship," he ordered Ratlin before going through the icy hallway back to his ship, "As soon as we help finish with the witch's insane plan, we're staying as far away from Port Royal as we can until we know the giants are not a problem for me"

Ratlin and Palifico looked down the hallway as their captain ventured deeper down the hall, "The captain has never considered running from something," Ratlin admitted as he never knew the captain to be intimidated by anything, "Normally the ones we go after are doing the running."

Palifico nodded in agreement, "If these giants scare the captain," Palifico said as he started down the hallway, "Than Heaven help the poor souls that meet them."

Ratlin nodded as he followed after them intending to follow his captain's orders.

 **The Next Day at 10am (Saturday)**

 **The Shore of the Thatch Residence**

Before Eric's home by the beach, the ocean waves continue their daily routine of the tide going in and out twice a day, every day. However, a good distance away from it, the surface of the water was broken by the slow ascent of blonde hair. It was Arista's head with only her eyes sticking out and she was making sure it was safe to climb on to land. After seeing that the coast was clear, she rose up so her head was above the water, and looked at the bracelet she took from Aquata's dresser. "Aquata used this before to pick up Ariel and she didn't change when she came home," Arista says as she puts the bracelet around her right wrist but stops before attaching the chain together. She looked at the bracelet with hesitation going through her mind at what she was about to do. "But what if I wear this too long and become like the humans on land," she asks herself in fear at becoming like the humans she was taught to fear all her life. The fear went through her like a heavy shower mistaken for a storm out of the blue. "Just find Ariel, convince her to come home, and keep her there until all of us can convince her to stay. No problem," she said to herself to give her the confidence to do it. "Here," she starts and then, "goes," she says just as she attaches the chain around her wrist, closes her eyes and cringes in fear of what she was doing.

A few seconds pass... and nothing happens.

A nervous Arista opened one eye half expecting a flash of light, an intense pain, or a feeling of change in her, but nothing happened. She opened the other eye as she looked at the bracelet which just sat on her right wrist before shooting the bracelet with a glare. "What's wrong with this thing," she asked out loud as she shook it to work, "Don't tell me I burrowed the wrong one and I have to swim back home to find it," she stopped waving her arm, and looked at the bracelet a second time. "Come and work alrea-"

Suddenly Arista sunk beneath the water like a rock. "What's happening? Why am I suddenly-" she started to ask herself but she suddenly held her neck as she realized that she couldn't breathe. It was as if having water enter her mouth was making it hard to breathe. As if on instinct, she closed her mouth, and held what ever air she had left by puffing her cheeks. 'What's happening to me? It's as if the sea is turning against me,' she thought in fear as to why she was struggling in her home. She looked at her tail only for eyes to shoot wide open in shock. There thrashing out of control in the water instead of her tail, were two human legs and feet surrounded by bubbles made from her fast movements in the water. 'My- My tail! The bracelet! It-,' she thought in panic as she realized the bracelet worked, but she was running out of air, and a burning pain in her chest was growing. Arista manages to see through the bubbles to see the bracelet, grabs it with her left hand, and pulls it off. In a flash of light in her shade of red, her tail returned, and she took a huge deep breath in that her mermaid gained from the water around her.

With her eyes closed, Arista began to take deep breaths in order to calm herself down from near death experience. She was holding the bracelet in her left while her right hand was holding her chest where the pain was before, "Note to self, never use the bracelet in the ocean," she said as she finished taking deep breaths. "How can Ariel stand being in a form that turns her home against her," Arista said out loud as she started to swim for the beach.

Arista managed to swim herself close to the shore, 'Let's try this again,' she thought as she slapped on her bracelet. The water around her glowed golden for only a moment, as she made her way to shore. Once she had made her way, she crawled up there like a baby would. She sighed, as she took a deep breath, "Okay, Arista. This is your first steps on human legs. It can't be that hard. Ariel does it all the time."

She wobbly stood on her newfound legs, as they shook back and forth. She reached down and grabbed her knees on instinct in order to keep them steady. 'How does Ariel stand being on these things? It's like trying to swim with two tails,' Arista thought as she let go and slowly stood up straight with her arms slightly out for balance. "Okay, I've got this. I've got this," she told herself despite having a nervous expression from how awkward this was for her as she looked down at her new limbs that were now still new to her, "All right," she said as her nervous expression changed into a confident smile from keeping her balance. Then she looked to the side where the sight of Eric's home was in view. She slowly turned her body to walk over to the house by the sea, 'Okay, now to get Ariel and-' she started to think, only for her legs to start shacking again, her feet raising up, and down in the sand from the lack of control. "Whoaoooaaa! Easy, easy," she said as he arms began to flair up and down and her smile became a look of shock, "I've got this, I've got thIIISSSSS!" Finally she lost her balance and fell backwards with her legs in the air.

THUMP

The next thing she knew, the mermaid princess was on her back with her left arm spread out in one direction, and her right arm was bent and pointing down in the sand. She lifted her head up to see her legs spread out in the sand and her feet pointing up to the sky, "These things are horrible! How does anyone stand them," Arista asked herself out loud in confusion and frustration. Then she took a deep breath before she used her arms to lift her upper body up, and then pushed herself up, so she was standing up again. Her legs still felt shaky, but she now had a better handle on them, at least standing up. 'Okay. Just keep calm Arista,' she told herself while maintaining her concentration, 'Just keep yourself like this long enough to find Ariel and bring her home for good.'

She looked around, and saw that she was all alone on the beach in the day with the sun illuminating everything while a few clouds sat in the sky. She sighed, "Okay, now I just need to go find Ariel and bring her home." As she took her newly strong steps, she stopped for a moment, as she looked down upon herself.

She had realized that even though she had her bikini shells still on her chest… she was wearing nothing but a mini skirt that ended just below her hips that was the same shade of red as her tail. She went wide eye, as she looked around to ensure nobody saw her. And sighed, as she remembered her sister was wearing strange garments that nearly covered everything on her.

Arista thought for a moment, and sighed, "I guess if I'm gonna blend in with the locals, I need some better clothing." But she looked around, "But where am I gonna find…"

She stopped as she heard giggling and laughing coming not too far from her. She carefully but unsteadily walked over to what appeared to be a big twisted down tree, blocking herself from whoever was giggling. She got on her knees to hide more, as she peeked up to what she was looking at. Apparently, it was a couple of teens, both boys and girls, undressing as some were making their way to the ocean, taking a dip. But much to Arista's surprise and shock… they were taking off their undergarments and putting no swimwear on.

"Of all the barbaric and seemingly unsensible acts," Arista whispered in shock. "They're swimming completely naked? How obscene can these humans be?"  
But then she stopped as she saw a boy and a girl slowly strip down in front of one another, smiling towards one another. It confused Arista much, until they were down to their underwear, and slowly walked towards one another. They wrapped their arms around one another, and started kissing one another. Arista wanted to turn away, as she whispered, "Ugh. A human mating ritual? I'm disgusted, and appalled, and…" But the passion grew intense among the two, as they fell to the ground, both going all over each other, as Arista was in a trance to see such a display of physical love-making, '… and can't look away…'

But she snapped out of it, as she shook her head, pulling back down, "No! I have to snap out of this. I can't afford to get distracted by that… weird thing they're doing. I need to find clothes, and just find Ariel."

It was then she turned to see the boy's clothing hung up on roots, as she smirked, "And I know just where to find some." She quickly ran over that part, doing her best not to get noticed, and snatched the boy's clothing.

Far away from the couple doing it, she easily slipped on the shirt, and the pants, but managed to swipe a pair of red sandals. She stood as she was wearing her new attire; a pair of white button-up long-sleeved shirt that exposed her cleavage held by her red shell bikini, and the pants were barely holding to her hips, but did little to hide the fact she wore no underwear underneath.

She blinked, as she realized her outfit's sized conditions. "Maybe I should have grabbed the human girl's clothing instead. This just seems way… inappropriate," she said to herself as she felt the clothes feel loose. "Just another reason to get this over with as soon as I can," she told herself as she began to walk in the loose clothing.

With her new human disguise, the fifth daughter of Triton made her way to the Thatch residence. It was a struggle though due to her in inexperience with legs, let alone human clothing. For those watching, it was like watching a baby learn how to walk or a person learning to walk again after going through an operation that changed the lower half of the body somehow.

Her arms were raised up to where her shoulders were, but her forearms were facing ahead of her in case she fell down. Her legs were constantly shaking with each step as she struggled to keep her balance. "How does she use these things let alone stand them,' Arista asked herself as she struggles to walked towards the house and stops as the staircase, 'Okay, just up these... whatever they are and-' Suddenly a sound coming from the door and caused Arista to hide on the right side of the staircase out of fear and an instinct. She has a anxious expression shown by her wide eyes and her lips apart showing her clenching teeth, 'Oh no! I'm busted,' she thought in fear of being eaten by humans or worse.

She slowly looks above her to see the door open to reveal Eric and Kida walking out of the house in their casual attire with Max happily following them. "So Ariel said she would meet us at the festival," Kida asked as Eric locked the door behind him, "Does it have anything to do with where she went to yesterday?" When Ariel returned in the near evening, she was filled with excitement and happy again as if the meeting with her father never happened. When asked, she said she was getting something ready to make the festival even better for all of them. Eric and Kida asked what it was, but Ariel playfully said it was a surprise for everyone, and they would have to wait.

"Yes to all that. She said she'd meet us along with Frey's group at the festival when we get there," Eric said as he put his house key in his pocket, "But I'm still not sure what she has in mind. She said she wanted to keep it a surprise for all of us. Even though she looked excited enough to tell us anyway," he explained as they walked down the stairs unaware that Arista was by the stairs and listening to the whole thing.

'He's not even with her right now or knows where she is,' Arista thought in anger at her supposed bodyguard, 'He's supposed to be protecting her all times! What if her secret is exposed and she's captured by human cooks,' she thought seeing how poorly Eric was doing his job of watching over her younger sister.

"Well whatever it is," Eric said with a smile on his face, "I'm sure it will be a fun one," he finished showing he was looking forward to whatever Ariel was planning as Max happily barked and ran around in excitement.

"I agree," Kida said in a happy tone of voice looking forward for some time seeing more surface land customs with her friends and Frey, "So how far is it to the fair grounds," she asked still learning her way around Port Royal after being away for so long.

"Usually they have it in town," Eric explained as Max stopped barking after catching a familiar scent in the air, "But today's papers said that it was in the field outside of town due to the streets still being a mess from the sewer problems yesterday. It's not far from here though," he said as he pointed through the forest, "It's just through the woods and past Fort Rampart." With that the two teens started to make their way to the festival grounds on foot.

Arista looked from her hiding spot and saw the two teens leave, 'The fair grounds? Is that like the carnival from be-' Arista stops as she sees Max sniffing the air as he followed the familiar scent of the sea towards the mermaid girl, 'No, no, no,' she thought in dread at her being discovered as she quickly jumps back down from sight. Before she could attempt to move as Max was almost to the stair case.

"MAX! Come on boy!"

Max's attention turned to Eric's voice and he forgot the scent and happily ran in the direction of his master's voice. Arista sighed in relief at the strange creature's attention was away from her, 'That was close,' she thought before moving from her hiding spot to see Eric, Kida, and Max start walking towards the forest. 'I really don't want to go to a human festival,' Arista thought in fear of being discovered and put through human torture, 'But Ariel maybe in danger and I'm not going to risk my sister walking into some kind of human trap,' she thought as the fear of losing her sister was just as strong. 'All right,' she thought to steel herself as she lifted her right hand up and clenched it into a fist, 'I'm going after them,' she thought as she started to follow Eric and Kida's footprints, 'Hang on Ariel, I'm-'

"Whooaaa Ummphh," just as she started to walk, Arista fell face first into the sand due to her legs still feeling odd to use. With her arms and legs stretching out as far as they could, she lifted her head up to reveal an annoyed look covered by sand. She then spat some out of her mouth, "Stupid legs," she said as she picked herself up, and brushed the sand off of her. "All right," she said as she slowly stepped forward again, "Let's try this a-" after three steps, she fell over again in the same position. She once again lifted her head up and spat sand out, "gain," she said in annoyance. Despite the difficulty, Arista managed to get enough of a handle on her legs to begin following Ariel's friends to the festival to save her sister... After about two more falls into the sand.

 **Next Chapter: A Fun Time & to New Heights**

 **I'm sorry again this took so long but there was a lot to do in this chapter. That and work and life became busy again. Now for chapter 2's little trivia, for those who noticed it, congrats. Those that didn't, better luck next time. The trivia was the two workers' names. Their last names are from John Musker and Ron Clements, the directors of the Little Mermaid and so many other Disney classics. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find a way to put a reference in the last two, but the next one will have plenty of room to put one or maybe two in. I hope you enjoyed the last two chapters.**


	5. Chapter 5 Fun Times and New Heights

**Sorry for the wait again and thank you for your patience. One of my co-workers was in a car accident and I had to help cover the extra shifts. She's doing a lot better now though and she didn't suffer any permanent damage to her body. I want to thank Stone-Man85 again for all his help with ideas and certain parts and hope he and all my readers enjoy this chapter.**

 **Chapter 5: Fun Times and to New Heights**

 **Asapin Residence at 11am**

As Arista followed Eric and Kida to the fair, others were preparing for the festival, namely those living at the Asapin home/boat which sat in the harbor as always.

Guest Room

At the moment, Frey's cousin Lilo was arranging the photographs she had taken on her trip to China with the others. Among the pictures were shots of battles, friends just hanging out, shots of others just resting, a few embarrassing shots, and some of couples together or kissing. She then picked up the last photo she took on the trip. "This has to be my best and favorite photo I've ever taken," Lilo said as she looked at the picture. The picture was of the group along with others all standing before the palace in Atlantis after it had returned to the surface at long last.

In the photograph were three rows of people. In the first row was Eric and Ariel in the center with her hugging Eric's arm, Sebastian on her right shoulder, and Dax sitting on Eric's left shoulder. Behind Eric was Milo with Suki holding his right and Akuda on Milo's left with this hands behind his back. To the left of Eric was Frey with Iago on his right shoulder, Kida holding Frey's right hand, Obby sitting on his hind legs in front of Kida, Wally standing behind them with Lilo and Stitch sitting on his shoulders, and Orpet and Genie floating above them as he gave Frey a rabbit antenna ears just as the picture was taken. Next to Frey was Mr. Whitmore along with his employees consisting of Audrey, Helga, Sweet, Vinney, Cookie, Miss Packard with two Atlantean men kissing her on different sides of her cheeks, and Mole running from angry Atlantean woman from his French phrase. To the right of Ariel was Mulan with Mushu sitting Mulan's shoulder, Shang standing next to Mulan with his helmet off, along with Yao, Ling, Chien Po, and the other Chinese soldiers standing in attention. Finally at the end was Seifer, Olette who had her eyes closed with a nervous expression on her face, and Ralph standing behind them.

Lilo looked at the picture fondly as she remembered all the fun memories that came from the trip, 'This is one summer vacation that I'll never ever forget,' she thought happily as she placed the photo in the center of her collection. 'Adventures, battles, magical entities, magic armies, no one will ever believe all this back in Kokaua Town,' she thought to herself, only for her excitement to turn into sadness as she realized something, 'Oh right, Summer is almost over. I'll have to head back soon.'

At first, Lilo thought her vacation would be boring and that she would rather be back in her hometown in Hawaii, but this turned out be the best summer vacation ever, and soon it would end with her going back home for school. 'There's no way anyone back home would believe me anyway,'

Lilo thought to herself in disappointment due to her lack of popularity back home, 'Even if Stitch is there with me, I promised the others I would-' Her train of thought came to a crash when she realized what she thought. 'Wait, can Stitch even come home with me or does he have to stay here with the others,' she asked in horror at leaving one of the best things for her this summer. Her first real friend who understood her, played with her unlike the kids back home, and listened to her.

"Ten minutes till take off!"

The thought of dread of being away from her best friend for a year was broken again by Frey's voice telling them when it would be time to go. "Uh Thanks cous, be down in a minute," Lilo said before grabbing her camera, and running for the door.

Bathroom

After calling the others, Frey was facing the mirror as he brushed his teeth, and reflecting on all that happened in China and Agrabah. 'I can't believe summer's almost over already. It feels like yesterday Eric and I were just surfing our days away,' he thought as he remembered how things were before. He and Eric were surfing and swimming for the school team. They would have friendly rivalry with Seifer's group, Eric would be dreaming of the sea and his dream girl, and Frey himself would repeat his usually routine of dating a girl for a while before dumping her to hide his pain of his mother deserting her family. But the last few months had changed so much thanks to one small school party, Eric was engaged to a mermaid princess, they had fought undead pirates, discovered and rose a lost civilization, journeyed across distant lands, made new friends, and Frey was now dating Kida, the first girl he actually had true feelings for. For the first time, he felt happy actually going to see a girl he knew he wasn't going to let go of, and who wouldn't abandon him.

"What do I have to do to get it through that head of yours that I am not going anywhere! Not without you at least," Kida's words echoed in Frey's head as the words that finally made him realize what was right in front of his all the time.

'Before this whole adventure, I wasn't sure what my worth was to her but now,' he thought to himself as he spat out his toothpaste, and looked in the mirror again, "I finally know what I mean to her and how much she means to me." He chuckled at the good feeling that he finally has a girlfriend he didn't want to dump. "So this is what Eric feels like when he's with Ariel," he said as he left the bathroom for the front door, "It's a good feeling that I won't be forgetting anytime soon."

Living Room

Stitch was in the living room seeing what else is on the TV since he only used it once. In the room was Orpet sitting next to Stitch seeing what had changed over the centuries since he was in the Cave of Wonders. One channel showed a short man in a yellow and black striped prison uniform losing his temper after seeing the one that put him there in the first place.

"Lucky Luke," he yells before foaming at the mouth and his head turning red as an apple from rage, "LUCKY LUKE!"

Stitch looked at it like it was the oddest thing he'd ever seen. "Naga," he said as he changed the channel with the remote.

The channel changed to one of a futuristic red car with jet engines on the side of it with a black cat's face on them. "I'll get you next Gadget! Next time," a gravely and sinister voice is heard as the jet flies forward. Then a cat screeching is heard, as if the cat is agreeing with it's master.

Stitch snickered at how evil the villain sounded along with the cat. "Ahahahahahahaha! RaaaaaaAAAAaaaarrrrh," he said as he gave his best impersonation of the cat's meow. Orpet, if he had a face would look shocked at something so big flying on it's own.

He changed the channel again. This time it showed a middle aged woman walking into a hotel room to find her job partner barely conscious in their hotel room. "Mulder," she asked out of concern for him.

"Who's the black private dick that's a sex machine to all the chicks," the man known as Mulder says clearly still out of it, "Shaft! Can ya dig it?" The woman looks at Mulder with disbelief written on her face as the man continues. "They say this cat Shaft is a bad mother- shut your mouth! Talkin' 'bout Shaft."

Suddenly the scene changes to Mulder's office as he hears his partner's side of the story of what happened while on their assignment. "I did not," he says clearly not believing that he actually said something so ridiculous.

Stitch tilts his head to the side and looks at the screen not understanding it due to just seeing that part and not understanding the joke at all. "Peh," he says while changing the channel.

This time it changed to something that amazes him. He gains a huge excited grin, "OOOOOOOOH Hickaja gobala," he says as he rushes around the room causing a ruckus. Orpet sat there watching Stitch run around the room before the he was grabbed by Stitch and pulled in against his will.

Frey walks into the room after hearing the noise, "What is going on in here," he says as he enters the room despite knowing it's Stitch up to something, "As if I have to ask." He looks around to see the TV on, a lamp shade missing from the lamp, and the sound of wrestling behind the TV. Frey looked around at all this confused as ever, "What is that furry little-" asks before a voice gets his attention.

"I am the terror that flaps in the night!"

Frey looks at the TV showing an anthropomorphic blue bull in a red suit order a goat in a stripped gangster suit shoot at something in the smoke but misses.

"I am the chill that runs up your spine," says a voice in the air but the location can't be found, as if the voice is all around them like an echo in the air. "I...," the gangsters look above to see the voice come from an anthropomorphic duck in a purple trench coat, a purple cape, a large purple hat, a blue turtleneck underneath the jacket, and a purple mask around his eyes. "am DARKWING DUCK!"

Suddenly in front of the TV, Stitch comes jumping out wearing the lampshade upside down and poor Orpet around his neck like a cape striking a heroic pose similar to the duck.

Frey just looks at Stitch's makeshift costume with a look mix of smug and confusion on his face as he just stares at him unable to find the right words. Frey is snapped out of it by a flash from a camera. He turns around to see Lilo with her camera taking a picture of the Atlantean experiment dressed as a superhero.

"Now that looks cool Stitch," Lilo said as the picture slid out from the disposable camera as Stitch buffed his chest out and smiled in a heroic pose, "Although I don't think Orpet is liking it," she said pointing out Orpet's top half hanging down as he held head in an annoyed way.

Stitch just exhaled in defeat at this, "Neeee mah," he said as he undid Orpet from legs from his neck, and took the lampshade off. Orpet flew over to the couch while Stitch jumped down and walked over.

"All right that does kinda cool aside from standing on the TV," Frey admitted as he didn't want his father finding out the TV broke when he returned, "Now come on or we're going to be late meeting up with Eric and the others for the festival."

"You mean late meeting up with Kida," Lilo said with a mischievous smile on her face. Stitch caught on to what she was getting into a joined in as they both started to make kissing sounds and acting all lovey dovey before laughing.

Frey shot them both a playfully annoyed smile and glare at their playful interpretation of him and Kida's new relationship, "Yeah and she and I will be sneaking off to do that when you're playing games," he said in a joking way to his niece and his fluffy friend before joining in their laughter. "By the way," Frey said after he stopped laughing, "Has anyone seen Iago? It's been quiet all morning and I thought for sure-"

"WHAT KIND OF SCREW LOOSE TOWN IS THIS!?"

As if on cue, Iago flew in through an open window and he was not happy. "I flown all over town and there's not so much as an underground gambling ring here," Iago yelled out in pain as this favorite means of finding treasure was missing, "What gives Asapin," he asked Frey in anger as he flew onto his shoulder.

"Yeah, unfortunately gambling is considered a major pirate magnet to Lord Beckett so he banned it from Port Royal. It's part of his way keeping the populace safe from piracy," Frey explained to Iago why, "The only gambling allowed are lotto and scratch tickets in Port Royal."

"RRRRRGGGHH! Treasure is much easier to swipe," Iago said as he knew the complications of that method of gambling, "Less legal issues and waiting for the big prizes from the bank. Beckett must have a stash of gold from pirates though, right?"

"He probably does," Frey said as the group headed for the door, "But no one knows where he keeps it. Not even my dad. There are actually rumors that Mr. Mercer uses any gold they confiscate from pirates to bait others into being captured."

"That's... Actually not a bad idea, until the pirates get wise to it," Iago admitted seeing the logic behind it, "Back on the subject though, what kind of town doesn't have gambling at night?! That's like a fruit salad without the fruit in it! What's a bird supposed to do all night," he continued to yell as he's number one means of entertainment at night was gone.

"Fly around ranting that Port Royal isn't Agrabah," Frey sighed, as Iago flew over to him, and perched on the top of the chair he was leaning on.

"YOU SAID THERE WAS GONNA BE A WHOLE LOT OF TREASURE HUNTIN' WHENEVER AN ADVENTURE POPS ITS HEAD AROUND," Iago nearly screamed his lungs out.

"Yeah. But whenever a crazy situation calls for us to take on an adventure," Frey explained. "This is downtime for us, to enjoy the Summer Fest before the school semester starts."

Iago then leaned in, almost pleading, "But there's still a chance that we could have an adventure in, with lots of treasure, I wager, right? Right?" Frey was silent a moment, irking Iago, until he finally blew, "RIGHT?!"

Frey then shrugged, "Yeah. I mean, it's likely it'll happen in about a week. Which is since I got dragged into this crazy life, should happen."

Iago sighed, "Oh thank you." But then he went wide eye at the time, and whined, "A WEEK!? I WANT IT NOW!"  
Frey sighed, as he shrugged, "Well, look at it this way: at least you've got another week to prepare in case it's a dangerous adventure."  
"DANGER?!" Iago freaked out, obviously not much of an adventure due to not wanting to endanger himself, "No! Danger big allergy for bird! BIRD WILL DIE IF HE'S IN DANGER!"

Everyone just laughed as Orpet flew them to the festival due to the streets still a mess from the previous night's sewer explosion.

 **Outside of Port Royal**

 **Carnival at 12:30 PM**

On the outside of town, stood the Summer Festival as sounds of fun and laughter along with different tasty smells filled the air. There were all kinds of stands serving different foods, tents where games were being held, displays for different performers putting on magic acts or performing great feats, and even a few rides such as a ferris wheel near the outside of the Fairgrounds. All in all, it was the kind of festival that anyone would want to be at before the summer ended, and school restarted.

Eric, Kida, and Max stood outside taking in the view of the festival with excitement. Even though Eric had lived in Port Royal all his life along with this being Kida's first summer in town, they were amazed by the sight before them. Max on the other hand was wagging his tail and barking happily at all the people.

"Wow," Eric said as he took in the sight of the festival, "I know that Frey told me this was always a bash, but I didn't know Port Royal was able to party like this. Even after Beckett became the governor." After Cutler Beckett was appointed the Governor of Port Royal, he set up the new rules in order to protect the citizens from piracy. However most of the laws were questionable at best such as a curfew at 11pm, different fees sailors had to pay if they weren't part of the company, and guards all around town make sure everyone was following the rules.

"Indeed," Kida nodded in agreement as she took in the festival, "Everyone here is filled with as much happiness and excitement as Atlantis was when it rose from the sea," she finished as she took it all in. 'I can not wait to show Suki, uncle, and the others in Atlantis all that the surface world has,' she thought to herself. She then looked around for her other friends. "Eric," she started to ask as she looked at him, "Do you think the others might have gone in a head of us?"

Eric checked his watch for the time, "No. we all agreed to meet here now so maybe they are still on their way here," he answered as he remembered calling everyone, and agreeing to meet at the entrance of the festival the night before. "They should be here any-"

"Speak of the devil..."

Kida and Eric turned to the side to see the source of the voice to see Frey's group walking towards them minus Orpet who had flown back in the air for a bird's eye view of the festival. "And he shall appear. Now where's the gold stuff," Iago asked in anticipation in the hope of treasure and he rubbed his wings together, "There's bound to be lots of ways to make money at a festival like this."

"It is nice to see you too Iago along with Lilo and Stitch," Kida said as she approached the group, including Frey who was smiling to see his best friend and girlfriend as he waved at them. As soon as she saw Frey's face, Kida gained a smile of her own, "Hello Frey."

"Umm, hi Kida," Frey said trying his best to hide a blush on his face as he scratched the side of his face, "You're looking nice today," he said clearly nervous as he could feel his heart in his throat. 'What's wrong with me? I've never been nervous around a girl before,' he thought to himself while trying to remain cool in front of Kida.

"Thank you," Kida said as she gained a small blush of her own, "I am ready to see what activities Port Royal gets into when celebrating. Perhaps they have hunting competitions similar to Atlantis," Kida said as she missed out on seeing a lot of Port Royal before the group went to China.

"Umm, no the festival doesn't have events like that," Frey admitted, "But there's tons to do aside from that. Like different kinds of games, food, rides, and performances."

"Get a room you two. Sheesh," Iago said looking up and had his wings crossed feeling Frey and Kida's affections for one another even if they weren't acting on them. Stitch and Lilo on the other hand were still play kissing and teasing the two behind their backs.

Eric looked at his best friend with a surprised expression from Frey's new behavior. 'Wow. I never thought Frey would-'

"ERIC! EVERYONE!"

Eric and the others turned to see a smiling Ariel run towards them with Sebastian hanging onto her hair for dear life. 'Of all things for a krab to get, land sickness is the last one I thought possible,' Sebastian thought to himself while his face was turning a gross shade of green.

Ariel was waving to the others as she ran up, pulling someone behind her as she did. Though whoever it was seemed a bit reluctant. Once she got up to them, the figure stood behind Ariel, wearing a long purple skirt that ended at the middle of her lower right leg, and was hiked up by a slit on her upper left thigh. She had a black belt around her waist with another one connected to it dangling on the right. She wore black high thigh boots, which was evident as her left leg was nearly covered up by her boot and black stockings. She also wore a black and purple hoodie which covered her face, and black fingerless gloves.

Ariel smiled as Eric walked up to her, hugging her, "Glad you made it." But pulled away, as he saw the hooded figure, "Is this who you brought along?"

Ariel nodded, "I figured since we all needed a little R and R, my friend here needed it more than ever since she was cooped up in her home."

Frey leaned in between the two, almost daring to kiss the said girl, as he smirked, "So who's the hottie, Ariel? Anyone we know?" As usual, Frey was turning on the old Pheromone charm, much to Kida's annoyance and jealousy.

The figure sighed, as she slowly pulled her hood back, and replied, "Well…" and revealed it to be none other than… Olette, as she arched an eyebrow at the tanned blonde, "… What do you think?"

A huge pause broke out, until Frey went from charming to downright freaked out, as he backed away, making a crucifix out of his index fingers, freaking out, "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! It's her! That crazy mermaid witch that nearly got all of us back in China! Back! Back unholy demon of the deep!"

Everyone aside from Eric seemed to go on the defensive, not forgetting the last time they fought against her. Although she did manage to help them back in Shangri La, there was still the wariness of how much she hated humans. And it wasn't until when Ariel told them about the woman Gothel that they had gained a better understanding of her hatred on how the woman betrayed and butchered her. Still… it was better to be safe than sorry at this point in their lives.

"Ugh, that only works on vampires, genius. I'm no lamprey either." Olette rolled her eyes back, "See, Ariel? I figured this was what was gonna happen. Your friends getting all defensive and Frey being all looney on it."

Though Ariel stopped her as she made a friendly plea on her friend's behalf, "Come on, guys. Give her a chance. I really think she needs this."

Eric, being the better person in understanding, walked up and asked, "Wait, so you two talked about going to the Summerfest?"

The two blinked and looked to one another, as they both said, "Well…"

 **Flashback**

 **The previous day**

 **Olette's Home**

 **10 am**

After everyone at the Thatch Household agreed to attend the Summer Festival the next day, Ariel left in excitement as she had a great idea along with Sebastian who was desperately hanging on to Ariel to stay on. At the moment, the Mermaid Princess and the nervous Royal Court Composer were outside of the home Olette used when she first transferred to Port Royal High.

"Ariel, are you sure you want to do this," Sebastian asked her, "What if she's getting ready for another scheme or she doesn't want to be bothered?" Even though Olette no longer served Ursula, the group aside from Ariel and Eric were still having a hard time accepting Olette after all that happened.

"Oh relax Sebastian," Ariel said as she approached the door, "Olette is different now. If she stays with all of us, we can show her a better way of life than just hatred and revenge." After learning of Olette's past, Ariel knew that all Olette needed were friends that could help Olette replace her pain with comfort, and happiness.

"But what makes you thinks she's even here," Sebastian asked Ariel just as they arrived at the door, "For all we know she could be somewhere else doing who knows what," he finished as Ariel knocked on the door. Sometime during the celebration of Atlantis rising, Olette had snuck off into the sea, and no one knew where she went off to.

Suddenly, the house slightly shook as dust fell off the sides of the house, and the muffled sound of an explosion was heard inside the house. This caught the two by surprise as they backed away from the explosion.

"Olette? Are you okay in there," Ariel yelled out to make sure her friend was all right, only for there to not be a reply.

"Aw well," Sebastian said while trying to think of anything to get away, "We tried. Let's go-" He stops when the door opens up to reveal Olette with a displeased expression, messy hair as if she just woke up, and covered in smoke marks as if she was caught in the some kind of blast.

Ariel and Sebastian look surprised by this while Olette continues to shoot them an annoyed glare, "Olette, hi. Are you all right," Ariel asked as she tried to break the awkward silence, "We heard an explosion and-"

Olette held up a hand telling Ariel to stop, walked out while leading Ariel away, snapped her finger, and the doorway shined for a quick second as Olette walked back over to the door.

"Olette? What are you doing," Ariel began to ask as Olette continued to head for the door.

"Never conjure where you live," Olette said as she opened the door to reveal the doorway had changed as she led Ariel and Sebastian in. As Olette looked around the doorway for any signs of trouble, Ariel and Sebastian took in their new surroundings.

The room appeared to be similar to Ursula's home in the Leviathan except it seemed more like a teenager's room. There were shelves filled with different kinds of books, some for spells, and others for reference. There were a few open cupboards filled with different items originating from the land and the ocean in glass jars and beakers. On a table nearby as a scientific lab set up with different beakers for testing serums, creating potions, and studying samples. In the center was a large pot currently filled with a blue liquid and a large stirring stick sitting on the side waiting to be used. Finally and to Sebastian's horror, there was a table similar to Tia Dalma's covered in crab bones as if they were tossed on the table. Something that Ariel noticed though was that it looked like there was some kind of blast that caused scorch marks to appear on the floor and papers scattered all over the place. Finally, there was an opening on the side of the room filled with ocean making the room smell like sea air. It was in fact an emergency exit into the sea via underground caverns for mermaids and those that could hold their breath long enough to get there. Olette had found it when she first arrived and made it in case she needed to escape from Eric's group while she was under Ursula's command.

'Who knew that Olette was hiding this before,' Ariel thought to herself as she looked around more in curiosity. In truth, she kinda felt she was back in her treasure trove if she gather spell ingredients rather than human items. She turns around when she hears Olette closed the door after ensuring whatever she was looking for wasn't there and looked at her guests again. "Olette, are you okay," Ariel asked her as Olette walked over to her, "After I knocked on the door, Sebastian and I heard an explosion and we thought something had happened."

"Oh that," Olette said as she remembered what happened. After she left Atlantis, she began to move her things to her new home in Port Royal before Ursula found out what she was doing, or where she was going. After settling in while making sure no one had followed her, she began to notice that Ursula had been quiet since losing her chance at controlling the Mandarin's forces. So she attempted to see the future using the crab bones technique but found nothing aside from Ariel's visit and reason. So Olette attempted to use a powerful spell to see what dangers were on the horizon. However just as she was about to add the final ingredient, Ariel knocking on the door caused her to lose her focus, put too much of the ingredient, and caused the spell to explode in her face. "It's fine," Olette started to say before turning around with a weak smile, "It was just... breakfast," Olette lied as she didn't want Ariel nosing in her business after finally getting home.

'She's obviously lying,' Ariel and Sebastian thought as they could see past Olette's lie.

'Breakfast... Really,' Olette asked herself how she could come up with such a weak lie. She cleared her throat, "Well it's... Nice to see you Ariel and Sebastian," Olette said while trying to sound nice about it for real instead of lying like before, "So how did you know I was here," she asked Ariel as Olette was very cautious about letting anyone see her here.

"To be honest, I didn't know," Ariel admitted a little embarrassed at her lack of detective skills, "I want ask you something and this was the only place I could think of to start looking for you. I was wondering if you wanted to-"

"Go to the Summer Festival with you," Olette finished Ariel sentence as she knew from the crab bones from earlier. Olette turned away as she began to clean up around her spell room, "I have so much to do here. Besides, festivals aren't really my thing," Olette said hiding the fact that she thought the others weren't ready to accept her after all she did before during their journey.

"Oh come on Olette," Ariel said as she began to help clean up as well, "It'll be fun. Plus school starts up again next week. We need to enjoy what little summer vacation we have left."

"I don't do fun Ariel," Olette said as she put the sheets back on the table, "At least your kind of fun. Not for a very long time," she finished as she continued to pick up sheets of paper off the floor.

Ariel knew that Olette was still troubled by her past, but she wasn't going to give up either. "Than this is the perfect way help you have fun again," Ariel argued as she walked in front of Olette, "Come on Olette, please," Ariel asked her like a little kid asking their older sibling to have fun with them, "You won't be sorry."

Olette sighed at Ariel's stubbornness, "Look Ariel, I just-" Olette stopped her sentence when she saw Ariel give her a depressed expression that would make even the strongest soul break. 'Oh gosh that face. She's like a sad puppy fish,' Olette thought as she felt the effects of Ariel's sad face.

"She got me with those eyes too," Sebastian said as he sat on Ariel's shoulder as he remembered how that look on Ariel's face stopped him from telling the king about her deal.

"Well- I," Olette started to think of an excuse, but Ariel's sad face was too strong to resist. Finally Olette sighed in defeat, "What time is the festival at," the dark mermaid asked in defeat.

 **Present**

The two finally answered, "Something like that/I had nothing better to do with my time anyway," they said while hiding what really happened. Ariel than walked forward with her usually optimistic smile, "Come on everyone, I admit things became rough between us in before and during China but that's all behind us now," Ariel said while trying to stand up for Olette before the others, "Olette could've left us to our fate in Shangri La but she chose to save us."

Eric walked over to Ariel's side, "Ariel's right. I mean sure Olette did some questionable things but if Ariel believes in her, That's enough for me," he finished while showing his support to Ariel and Olette. This earned him a smile from Ariel and a kiss on the cheek from her making him blush in surprise.

Soon the others were laughing aside from Olette who simply stared in silence. 'He's going that far to trust me, after all the things I did before just because of Ariel believes in me... How foolish and yet admirable,' Olette thought to herself as she watched the group of friends simply have fun, 'These humans aren't so bad... I guess.' She then felt a strange feeling, the kind one gets when being watched by someone as she began to look around without revealing she was on to whoever it was. 'Someone's watching... Could it be her again,' Olette began to think of possible candidates of who would be following them.

"Sorry about before with the whole witch thing."

Olette's train of thought came to a halt as she noticed Frey in front of her apologizing. "Whatever. Personally I'm surprised you'd even talk to me. By the way, is this the only time soldiers aren't standing guard somewhere because I don't see any at all here," Olette asked as she noticed that there wasn't a single Port Royal soldier around when usually no one could go a day without seeing one.

"It's because they're all preoccupied at the moment."

The others turned to see Seifer standing by the entrance along with his arms crossed and Fuu on his left and Rei on the right. "Mr. Mercer called all the soldiers in for an emergency meeting after whatever happened last night," Seifer said with his usual filled with authority as Port Royal's self appointed protector.

"So Seifer's making sure the festival goes without a hitch until they get back, y'know," Rai said as she pumped his fist up with a toothy grin.

"Guard duty," Rei said in her natural tone while maintaining her usual expression.

"That explains the lack of guards around the fair," Frey said completely unfazed by Seifer's authority, "Here I thought they were all on lunch break," he joked earning a small laugh from Lilo and Stitch.

"Laugh all you want Asapin, but I plan to make sure no one tries anything while the army is away," Seifer answered before turning his glare at Olette, "Especially while she's here."

Olette didn't say anything but she turned her head away not meeting Seifer's gaze. 'Why did he have to be here of all places,' she thought to herself, not in anger, but in guilt for what she did before to him.

"You are aware she may be waiting to cause trouble again like before right Thatch," Seifer asked Eric without revealing what she really did to Fuu and Rei.

"Olette isn't like that anymore Seifer," Ariel said in defense of Olette, "She helped us before and I believe coming up with schemes is the last thing on her mind now that she's one of us."

"I'm one hundred percent with Ariel on this one," Eric answered unfazed by Seifer's words, "Besides, you learned about her past, Seifer. I would have thought that you of all people would have known what that can do or twist a person to do."

Seifer looked at Kida and Frey for their input. "Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower," Frey answered while Kida nodded in agreement.

Olette's eyes open wide from surprise at this turn of events. After all she did to them, all the troubles, dangers, and problems she caused the group, they were willing to stand by her, and accept her into their circle. 'After all that happened before, how can they trust me so easily,' she asked herself as the confusion went through her mind and her heart felt warm from the acceptance.

"Well... As long as she doesn't start any trouble than we're cool," Seifer said satisfied with the group's answer, "But I'll be watching," he finished as he pointed to his eyes with his two fingers and pointed them at Olette saying he's watching her. Then he turned around and entered the fair to patrol the grounds for trouble.

"He's keeping an eye on all of you, y'know," Rai said before going to catch up with Seifer.

"Under watch," Fuu simply said before joining them leaving the group outside the fairgrounds.

"EEEESHH! Is he on guard mode 24/7 or what," Iago asked after having to keep quiet due to Fuu and Rai not knowing about what went on in China, "I knew pigeons back in Agrabah that knew how to have more fun than him."

"Olette, don't let Seifer put you down," Ariel said as she turned to face her friend in the hopes of convincing her not to go home after Seifer's warning, "You shouldn't let him ruin your day-"

"It's okay. I deserved a lot more than simply a warning after all the things I did to him in China," Olette admitted as she knew that Seifer had every right to hold a grudge after controlling him to fight Eric and put the world in danger. "To be honest, I thought he would attack me on sight like before," she admitted after remembering how he had her at his mercy when he broke free of her control, "But I'm glad he didn't, I would've won after all," she finished as she laughed to herself before stopping as she saw the others give her a confused look on their faces, including Ariel. "Heh heh... That was a joke," she admitted at her attempt at humor.

"Oh heh heh... yeah," Frey admitted as he and the others weakly laughed at her dark joke, "Kinda weak, but you're trying so that's a start."

"Thanks," Olette said sarcastically.

"Trying is always the first step to success."

Everyone turned in the direction of the voice to see Ralph and a disguised Wally walking towards them from the forest and Obby running towards Kida as happy as Max would be to see Eric. "At least that's what you all taught me," Ralph finished as he walked over while carrying a bag behind his back.

"Obby," Kida happily said as she got on her knees and patted her pet and friend, "Oh I missed you so much. Were you a good boy when you were helping Ralph," she asked him as he happily barked.

"OOOOhhhhh yeeeaaah," Wally said in his usually techno voice as he answered Kida's question as he had been with Ralph yesterday and this morning.

"Thank you both," Kida said as she continued to pet her lava dog, "It was getting very hard to find rocks that Obby liked around Port Royal. Were you able to find what you need for your new home Ralph," Kida asked as she knew Ralph was working on a new home in the forest close to Port Royal. He wanted to make a fresh start elsewhere but felt he was more comfortable in the forest rather than the city. So when he and Wally went looking for materials to make a place to stay, Kida asked them if they could take Obby with them to see if there were any rocks he liked to eat. That way Kida and the others didn't have to keep going back to Atlantis for rocks or looking for a volcano.

"Yep. When we were digging for an area for storage, we found tones of rocks, and the little guy loved them all," Ralph explained as he put the bag down revealing it to be filled with the rocks he found for Obby based on the sound on the clicking sound they made, "I even brought all the stones we dug up for Obby." Obby turned around at the sound of the rocks in the bag and made jump at them with a open mouth intending to eat them. Only for Ralph to lift the bag back up and Obby to miss it.

"Thanks again you two," Kida said appreciating their help.

"Are you sure you want to live in the forest," Eric asked Ralph, "You're still welcome to stay at my home with Wally."

"Thanks, but I still prefer the woods," Ralph answered, "But I do appreciate you and everyone bringing me with you back here. It would've been impossible to get a boat back home on my own." Due to Ralph's reputation and appearance, most of the townsfolk from China shunned him making it hard for him to receive help. If it wasn't for meeting Olette, Ariel, and the others, he might've been alone in the woods for the rest of his life.

"Okay, but know you're always welcome at Thatch Manor," Eric said earning a nod from Ralph.

"Enough of the bonding people! We're burning daylight here," Iago squawked as they had been talking for a while now.

"Iago has a point," Frey said as he walked in front of everyone, "We're halfway through the day and haven't even gone into the festival yet. Aside from Lilo and myself, this is everyone's first festival so let's make it one to remember," Frey said as he shot his fist in the air.

"YEAH," everyone yelled out aside from Olette who was still a little reluctant to hang out.

"Let us give the best goodbye to Summer that we can," Kida added not quite understanding the meaning behind the surface term of bidding Summer goodbye.

'What an odd bunch-,' Olette thought to herself before she was pulled by Ariel who also was pulling Eric, "WHOOAA!"

"Come on you two! We're missing on all the fun," Ariel said with excitement in her voice and eyes as she pulled the smiling Eric and startled Olette.

'Hmmm... Maybe that's why they can all get along. Their bond is what gives them their strength,' Olette thought to herself, 'Perhaps that's why the Mandarin lost to them, why Ursula keeps losing, and why I lost to them.'

As the others see Ariel drag Eric and a confused Olette through the entrance of the fairground, Kida grabbed Frey's arm, "Well you heard her everyone," Kida said with excitement in her voice, "Let us celebrate!" She and Frey with Iago hanging on for dear life followed after Ariel while the others. Unaware that they were being followed by someone who was watching them the whole time from the forest.

 **Fairgrounds Games**

 **12:45 pm**

After the group entered the fair, they split up into two groups, and divided the money among themselves, and split up. Lilo, Wally, Ralph, and Stitch went in one direction while Eric, Ariel, Sebastian, Frey, Kida, Iago, and a reluctant Olette went in the other.

Ralph's group moved through the crowds of people looking at the different games to play. Although Ralph, Wally, and Stitch were being stared at due to their unique features. While Ralph felt uncomfortable with the eyes staring at him, it felt different than before in his hometown. The people there shot him angry glares and turned their back from him whenever he walked through town. This time they simply stole glances from him as he was new in town. He felt no anger or hatred from them though.

'Okay Ralph, this is a new start for you. New faces, new home, and new opportunities,' he thought to himself, 'Keep your cool, don't break anything, and the people won't be staring at you anymore.' Although keeping his cool wasn't easy as he could hear some people whispering as who he was, why he was so tall, and that he must be an angry fellow.

"Oh my gosh look at that awesome stuffed monster!"

Ralph was snapped out of his train of thought by the sound of Lilo's voice as she stood on the side of a game. Hanging on the side of the game was a large stuffed monster doll. It was purple and looked like a dragon with wings or hind legs. Except this doll had seven heads with each head having the same design consisting of a serpentine neck, a large mouth filled with white fangs, orange eyes with slit pupils, and spikes lining the top of each head all the way down their necks. It had two hands with four fingers with a sharp claw on each finger and a long tail with the same spike as the neck going from the tail's tip to the necks.

Lilo was staring at it with stars in her eyes, "It's so weird and awesome, I'm gonna die," she exclaimed in excitement.

Stitch however simply turned his head at it, "Naga et schmalla," Stitch said with some jealousy in his voice.

"Oh come on Stitch, you're the greatest and the fluffiest of them all," Lilo said showing she wasn't replacing him, "But that stuffed dragon looks so freaky!"

Ralph just looked at Lilo and Stitch as they reminded him of the kids back home who would play until they saw him, having the same happy faces. He walked over to the front of the stand in hopes of buying the toy for Lilo.

In front of him was a large stand in the shape of an oval comet complete with craters. Outside it were four seats each with a pop gun attached to the table for the players to use. Inside the stand were four layers of displays showing aliens, stars, planets, and other things usually found in outer space. All around the outer rim were smaller prizes of all shapes and sizes and a display used to show the results of the game. In the middle of the back was a flying saucer with an alien face attached to a planet. On the top of the attraction were the words 'SPACE KILLER' in red with light bulbs all over the front.

To the side in the stand was a young male adult with curly red hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a carnival hat with stripes, a blue sweater under a red t-shirt with a frowny face on the side usually seen on text messages, blue jeans, and red shoes.

"Uh excuse me sir. How much for seven headed dragon toy," Ralph asked the vendor who was currently reading a magazine and drinking from a cup.

The vendor chuckled at this as he looked up, "Well... It's not for sale. But all you gotta do, is knock down that little spaceship in the middle," he explained while pointing out the spaceship in the center.

"Hm, sounds easy enough," Ralph said as he put the money down for Lilo and Stitch to play.

Just as Lilo was about to climb up, she saw that Stitch was about to pull out his guns but was stopped by Lilo. "Stitch, you remember what Frey and the others said."

"Nyah nyah," Stitch said disappointed as let go of the guns and the two climbed on to play the game which the Vendor didn't care as he thought it was just a costume.

As soon as the two were ready, the vendor pushed the button, and the game started up. All the display of aliens began to move up and down while the bigger one moved faster and all around to make it harder to hit. Lilo and Stitch began to fire randomly. Stitch normally would've been able to hit it with his own guns, but using the toy gun was tricky as he never used regular surface guns before. The corks when flying missing each of the aliens until finally the game ended with a loud buzzer sound and the words 'YOU LOSE' in red pass by the digital display above.

Stitch moaned at the loss along with Lilo looked disappointed, "I close my eyes for one second and missed it."

Ralph pulled out another dollar, "Last one. Eric said we have to make these last the whole day," Ralph said not wanting to use too much of Eric's money. The vendor accepted it and started the game again as the sounds and movement took came back.

"Thanks," Lilo said to both before blasting again. She and Stitch took aim trying to hit their target alien in the center. Flying corks filled the area as they attempted to hit it. Finally, Lilo and Stitch were able to hit the target at the same time.

"We hit it, we hit it," Lilo exclaimed excitedly as she knew she and Stitch had won, "Did you see that? We hit it!"

However her hopes her dashed as the same familiar lose sound was heard above them. This lead to Lilo sighing sadly as she knew what that meant. Stitch and Ralph reacted differently though as Ralph had seen them both hit the alien ship.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What was that," Ralph asked the Vendor, "She hit that. Wally and I saw her hit it."

The Vendor was flipping through a stack of dollar bills before turning his attention to Ralph. "Hey, buddy, let me explain something to you," the Vendor says with a smarmy smile on his face. "You see that little tin spaceship? You see how it's not knocked over? Do you know what that means, professor," he asked as he gets in Ralph's face. "It means you DON'T GET THE HYDRA! Somebody's got a frowny face. Boo! Better luck next time," he finished as he took note of Ralph's angry glare. What they didn't know was that the Vendor had set the grand prize alien up so that no one could knock it over even if they managed to hit it with a steel pole.

Ralph was not taking that well as he could feel his blood begin to boil. 'Okay, now I'm angry and not that calm angry where one is assertive, I'm aggressive angry to the point of knocking down that ship myself!' Before Ralph could respond, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to see Wally shaking his head now and pointing at himself saying he'll take care of this. If anyone could see, Wally's optics had a glare of their own for making Lilo look sad at being cheated by the Vendor.

"Okay... Myyy Turrrn," Wally said allowing Ralph to get the message. He nodded as he handed the Vendor another dollar bill who took it gladly. Wally walked away until he was about a yard away. He lifted his right arm up as the fingers of his right hand retracted in and his hand began to hum with energy becoming louder and louder. A blue light began to shine as the Vendor took this as a sign to move out of the way. After a few seconds of charging, a powerful bolt of blue lightning shot out of Wally's hand, vaporizing the grand prize alien, and leaving a huge hole in the game stand.

Wally returned his hand to normal before making a triumphant pose, "Knnnnocked ooooovveeerrrrr," he said in his wirrey voice.

The Vendor however wasn't feeling as happy as he was left stunned and covered in smoke at how his cheating ways had come back to bite him in the worst way, having to use the money he swindled to repair his stand. Ralph took the hydra prize they had earned and handed it to Lilo as the group left the stand.

"It's so AWESOME," Lilo exclaimed as she shook the toy that was larger than her in her hands, "Thanks you too and that was awesome Wally! You blew up the whole thing," she exclaimed in excitement at what Wally did, "Let's go destroy another game," she finished as she and Stitch went in search of one.

Ralph stood there smiling, "Not quite what I had in mind," he told Wally, "But thanks. I think I might not have left anything for that guy to fix," Ralph admitted as they caught up with Lilo and Stitch.

"Youuuuuu're weeeellllcommmmeee," Wally answered.

 **High Striker**

"Come one, come all! Test your strength and try to win our grand prize!"

Further down was a Test Your Strength game with different signs at each height showing the level of prize each height represented. The sides of the game had flashing yellow lights going all the way up and a big light bulb meant to flash when the bell was rung on the top. The game was being announced by another teenager wearing the same attire as the Space Killer game vendor but wearing a different colored shirt without the emoticon. This vendor had short brown hair and blue eyes.

Ralph's group looked at the game and prizes that were for the winners. "I don't know. I think I might break this one by accident," Ralph admitted as he knew that he might overdue to due to his immense strength, even to the point of the whole thing falling over.

"It's okay Ralph," Lilo said as she looked at it, "I don't really see anything good there. Nothing weird like this guy here," she said lifting the stuffed hydra up. "How about you Wally," she asked the robot who shook his head no at the question. "What about you Stitch-" she asked before noticing Stitch was missing. She looked around for him, "Where did he go," she asked as the others looked for him.

"What is this thing?!"

They looked in the direction of the voice to see the Vendor looking down at Stitch who had his eyes locked on the game.

"Some kind of freaky dog or something," the second Vendor in shock as everyone looked at him.

Lilo ran up to him before things became worse, "That's Stitch," Lilo said as she arrived, "He's my dog."

The second Vendor looked unconvinced as he and the crowd looked at him. "You sure about that," the Vendor asked.

"He's the freakiest dog I've ever seen," another person said.

"Maybe he's a new species," a woman said.

"He's a Chinese Koala Dog," Ralph said catching up to the Hawaiian girl and her pet while going with the cover story Frey mentioned before, "Very rare and intelligent."

"Still looks freaky to me," one person said as he left along with others.

Ralph knew how painful words could be from his life in China. He looked at Stitch who was unfazed as he continued to stare at something. "Is your dog going to keep staring or what," the second Vendor asked feeling freaked out by Stitch.

"I think he wants to play," Lilo said as she looked at her best friend and pet, "Am I right Stitch," she asked him who responded by nodding his head.

Suddenly a roar of laughter filled the air like before, only this laughter wasn't from the fun of the festival. Rather from the people around Ralph and his group.

"HIM?! A DOG PANDA THING PLAYING THIS GAME!"

"THAT'S RICH! THE FUNNIEST THING I'VE HEARD ALL YEAR!"

"WHAT'S HE GONNA DO?! SIT ON IT AND TAKE A WIZZ ON IT!?"

The laughing continued, especially from the Vendor, "Okay... I'll humor you little girl! If you're little doggy can get to get halfway to the third level of the game," he said as he pointed to the lower middle part of the tower, "He can pick any prize he wants."

"LIKE THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN!"

"HE'D PROBABLY DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO USE A HAMMER!"

"IT'S NOT EVEN WORTH THE MONEY TO SEE THAT!"

Everyone including the Vendor continued to laugh their heads off. The Vendor stopped though when he saw the money for the event in front of him in Ralph's palm. "I'll take that bet," Ralph said confidentially.

The Vendor just snicked as he took the money, "It's your loss," he said as he placed it in his pocket, and pulled out a small hammer for Stitch. "This ought to be good," he said as he backed towards the crowd who were taking their cell phones out to record it. 'Especially since the back is rigged to prevent anyone from anyone winning the grand prize,' he thought in victory for he had attached a weight in the back of the weight that made it even heavier making it only reach level three or just below four.

"Show them what you can do Stitch," Lilo yelled out as fluffy blue creature took the hammer, and approached the game.

Stitch put the hammer down, spat in his hands, rubbed them together, and picked the hammer back up. Stitch lifted the hammer over his head, waited a minute, and slammed it down with all his might. The platform shot the weight up as it went up at lightning speed, hit the bell so loudly it could've been mistaken for a church bell, and shot the bell and weight up into the air like a model rocket.

All the citizens who laughed their heads off stood there with bugged out eyes at the outcome. Including the Vendor who was the most shocked. 'He- he- broke it, easily. He'll ask for the sports car in the back,' the Vendor realized as he remembered that was the grand prize to behind the game.

"Way to go Stitch," Lilo exclaimed while Wally and Ralph clapped for their little blue friend.

Stitch put the hammer down and stood triumphant at his victory for a moment before walking over to the prize selection. While everyone thought he was going to go for the Green Chevrolet Camaro in the back, instead he went for the bin of stuffed animals. After a second, Stitch pulled out a green stuffed turtle that was twice his size and had a baby turtle on it's back. Stitch looked at the Vendor who was still in shock, "Thank youuu," Stitch said as he joined his friends who waved goodbye and the four left with their new prize.

"Good choice Stitch," Lilo said as they looked for something else to do at the fair.

The Vendor however processed what just happened, "Did that dog just speak," he asked dumbfounded at what he heard Stitch say.

"That dog just spoke," a citizen said equally shocked. Just as the bell and weight from the game landed on the car smashing the front window.

Back with Ralph's group, they continued to look for something else to do. "Boy this festival is more fun than I thought it would be," Ralph admitted as they walked down the path. Wally nodded in agreement, true he couldn't grab any treasures without it looking like stealing, but he was happy with the others.

"Yeah! This is the best one for me," Lilo said agreeing with them as the group continued to walk through the festival as she hugged her new stuffed Hydra. She looked at Stitch, "How about you Stitch," she asked her friend. She saw him holding his new stuffed turtle while trying to walk with it. She would see his head nod in agreement if not for the turtle.

"Ralph! Lilo! Wally! Stitch!"

The group turned around to the sound of their names to see Eric, Ariel, and the others ran up to them. "Are you all alright? We heard the was some kind of explosion," Ariel asked them hoping they were safe.

"Please tell me that Stitch had nothing to do with it," Frey asked, "I'm still hearing the complaints from the damages he caused in China in my dreams. Where is he anyway," Frey asked looking for Stitch as he could only see a green turtle on it's hind flippers. However a familiar growl made Frey and the others realize that Stitch was holding the turtle. "Oh there he is," Frey said.

"We're okay and Stitch didn't cause the explosion," Lilo said earning a sigh of relief from the others aside from Olette for they're safety, "Wally did it."

"Oh okay- SAY WHAT NOW," Frey exclaimed at the culprit being Wally and not Stitch with all his hidden weapons.

"Yep. Even helped won me this," Lilo said showing her new hydra stuffed animal, "Isn't it cute? Not Stitch cute but a close second," she asked hoping they would agree.

Ariel and Olette simply looked dumbfounded at the toy Lilo said was cute as they tried to find the right words.

"Your tastes frighten me sometimes, kid," Olette finally said only to receive a look of disappointed from Lilo, "I like that," Olette finished with a smile earning a toothy smile from Lilo.

Soon the others explained what happened as the others took the story in. "I see. Sounds like you had a run in with the Feddermen Twins," Frey said, "Those two use different games to scam people out of their money each year," Frey explained, "However Mr. Mercer was never able to bust them for it."

"Why not? If everyone knows they're behind it, shouldn't it be easy to bring them in," Ariel asked confused at why such as simple job would always fail.

Frey closed his eyes as he folded his arms as if he was in deep thought, "It's just a rumor... But I heard it had something to do with the men Mr. Mercer sent always coming back in their underwear."

This led to a silence among them as they took that reply in, even Olette who always kept her cool raised an eyebrow at that. 'Either those two are that good at swindling people or humans are that gullible,' she thought to herself.

"Well enough about that," Ariel finally said wanting to change the subject, "Come on, we're losing daylight, and there's still lot's of things to do," she said and the group was on it's way, unaware that they were still being followed.

 **Later On**

 **1:30 pm**

As the group continued, they enjoyed more what the fair had to offer. One such example was one where an artist who painted a picture to music that no one could recognize. To many it looked like abstract art, but as soon as the music ended, the artist flipped the picture around to reveal a portrait of Elvis Presley. Next they saw a ventriloquist where the person pulled out different puppets in each act which consisted of a grumpy elderly man who complained a lot, a skeleton with an accent, and a purple monkey wearing one sneaker. All in all, the group was having the time of their lives.

Later on, the group arrived at an area where a huge crowd had gathered in excitement. Thinking it was another event, they all gathered to see what it was.

In the center of a large number of people, there was a large stand with a large TV screen held up by a black stand in the center of the tent. Standing on the platform was a man dressed in a carnival outfit complete with red and white striped blazer with a matching bow tie, a white dress shirt, a white hat with red and blue horizontal stripes, black dress pants, and black dress shows. In his hand he held a megaphone that he was about to use.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! BOYS AND GIRLS! COME ONE COME AND SEE WHO WILL BE OUR FIRST PLAYERS FOR DANCE OFF," he said getting the attention of everyone at the festival as a neon sign with the words "Dance Off" were flashing above the TV screen.

While everyone in the crowd was looking excited, Ariel, Kida, Wally, and Ralph had confused looks on their face at this event. Olette on the other hand had her arms crossed as she was not impressed by the flashing lights. "Frey, what is this dance off that the stripped man is talking about," Kida asked as she was confused by the title, "And where are they dancing off to?"

"Nowhere. It's just the title of the game," Frey said as he began to explain to everyone. "Two people are called from the crowd to play a versus game match where they press the buttons matching the symbols on the screen at the right time. The better your time, the more points your score. It's called Dance Off because it's played with music in the background and your dancing to it. Whoever has the best score after the song wins a prize," Frey finished explaining.

"Oh, so it is like a combat simulation without the use of weapons," Kida said as she compared it to her combat training back in Atlantis, "Have you ever participated in this training simulation," Kida asked.

"Well once but I lost," Frey answered with a smile.

"To me," Lilo said with a confident smile as she remembered the time she went with Frey and they were both called up to play and she won. Only Frey let her win that time to be a good cousin as she was much younger.

"I see. Perhaps you can give Frey a chance for a rematch," Eric said as he remembered Frey mentioning his loss a few years ago.

"If we're lucky. Ever since last year, they've been choosing the players at random due to fights for the position and people getting hurt on their way to the stage," Frey explained as there had been some cases of people fighting for the spot and getting hurt.

"So how do they pick players than," Olette asked seeming a bit curious about it now, "It's not like they can just use spotlights since we're outside and it's the middle of the day. Not to mention there was no need for tickets so they can't just draw them."

Before Frey could answer, the man with the megaphone spoke out again. "NOW IT'S TIME TO PICK OUR PLAYERS," he yelled out as the screen behind him changed to different people in the crowd. Above the television was a security camera used to view everyone and help decide who would play. Suddenly the screen began to change pictures at random and at a speed that made it look like a blue.

"Well... I supposed that's better than just pointing at a random person," Olette admitted as the screen continued to change pictures, 'As long as I'm not picked. There's no way a game where you dance can be fun,' Olette thought to herself.

Suddenly the screen began to slow down as different pictures of people were shown. Finally the screen stopped and began to flash at a picture of Eric with Ariel on his left and Olette on his right showing they had been chosen. This however led to the three to have surprised expressions.

"WELL EVERYONE THIS IS A NEW ONE! IT LOOKS LIKE THIS WILL BE A GAME TO REMEMBER," the announcer said going along with this turn of events, "A DANCE OFF BETWEEN THESE TWO LOVELY LADIES AND WE HAVE THE PERFECT PRIZE FOR THEM TO PLAY FOR!"

"Ooooh, this sounds fun," Ariel said with stars in her eyes, "Come on Olette, let's give this a try!"

"No thanks, I'll pass," Olette said not wanting to play as she waved her right hand showing she had no interest in playing, "Just let someone else take my place."

"Don't be like that Olette," Ariel said with a smile, "You have to be more flexible. It took a lot to bring you here today. You won't regret it," Ariel said with a sly smile.

"Ehh she's probably just scared of losing in front of everyone," Iago said thinking his words would entice her into playing. This however earned him a playful glare from her.

"Nice try Iago but I'm not going to fall for one of my favorite tricks," Olette said showing she wasn't going to tricked into playing by having her ego damaged, "There is nothing that will make me go up there and-"

"HERE'S THE PERFECT PRIZE FOR THESE TWO FRIENDS. THE GIRL WHO WINS GETS AN ALL DAY PASS TO THE TUNNEL OF LOVE TO TAKE THE LUCKY BOY BETWEEN THE TWO COMPETITORS," the announcer announced showing the pass in his right hand as the crowd cheered.

The prize however earned a confused expression from Ariel and a few newcomers to Port Royal. "The Tunnel of Love? What's that," Ariel asked Eric as she had never heard of such a ride.

Eric however was blushing, "Well... It's a ride for couples but I've never been in one," Eric said since in all the time he was with Ariel, they had never gone to a fair.

"Leave the explanation to an expert," Frey said confidentially as he was an expert on couples related topics, "The Tunnel of Love is the perfect place for a dating couple to have some time alone and enjoy a lovely atmosphere for the two of them."

"It's basically just a slow ride like a Lazy River ride for relaxing," Lilo said with a bored expression on her face, "Totally dullsville."

"I don't know," Ariel admitted as she thought she didn't need a ride to for her and Eric to have romantic moments together, "Maybe they should pick someone else-"

"In that case," Olette's voice sounded as she grabbed Eric's arm and put it between her breasts much to Eric's embarrassment and Ariel's shock, "If I win against Ariel at the game, will you go with me on the ride," she asked Eric with a pleading smile on her face hoping his answer would be yes.

Eric however was caught off guard and was trying to find the right words, "What- But- I'm already- Dating Ariel- And-"

"Oh I'm sure she won't mind," Olette said as she got closer to Eric's face, "After all, I'm sure she can be flexible about sharing you," she said as she looked at Ariel, "Right Ariel," she asked with a smile while using Ariel's own words against her.

"Why you," Ariel said as she could feel the jealousy flow through her as shown by the glare she was shooting at Olette and her hair rising and going crazy as if her anger was bringing it to life. Even Sebastian who was on her shoulder was a feeling the fear as he slowly moved away the best he could. "All right Olette, you're on," she said while pointing at her, "Whoever wins gets to go with Eric in the Tunnel of Love!"

The others looked surprised at this new side to Ariel, not that they could blame her, but it was unexpected. Especially Eric, but at the same time, he found himself happy that she wasn't going to give up on him just as he wouldn't give up on her. Although the pressure from the girls he was stuck in the middle of prevented him from showing it.

Olette snicked as she let go of Eric's arm, "Heh, you're own," Olette said confidentally.

"DO YOU FEEL IT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN?! YOU CAN FEEL THE COMPETITIVE SPIRIT BETWEEN THESE TWO FRIENDS," the Announcer said as he used the girls' bet to spread excitement through the crowd. They all cheered as they made a path for Ariel and Olette as they made their way up to the platform. Ariel was so focused that she didn't notice Sebastian jump off of her shoulder and land on Eric's shoulder.

"You ready for this," Olette asked Ariel as they were now halfway to the platform.

"Ready when you are, Rihanna," Ariel shoot back, only to receive a stone cold glare from Olette showing she was not amused. "Oh, come on. You must have heard of her. She's a huge star and great dancer, right," Ariel explained as she had seen her on television once or twice before. However Olette's expression did not change. "Have you ever laughed since moving here," Ariel asked wondering if Olette had simply chosen to shut off her emotions when she betrayed Ursula.

"Wait and see," Olette answered.

As soon as the girls arrived, the announcer explained the same rules as Frey. The girls got into position with Olette on the left and Ariel on the right. They both stood on matching dance pads with in the shape of a circle cut into four pieces and each having a different symbol on them

"LET'S GET READY TO DANCE," the Announcer said as the TV screen became a game screen a split screen, four identical symbols on the top of the screen, a number one on the left, a number two on the right, and a number three in the center of the screen. Suddenly the three turned into a two revealing it to be a countdown as the music started to play. Finally the one in the center became the word 'DANCE' and matching symbols began to rise from the bottom of the screen to the top.

 **Little Ways from Dance Off**

As soon as the game started, one person had left the crowd, and went unnoticed by anyone as she walked further and further away from the game. It was Priscilla Allen, Port Royal High's most popular student, and head cheerleader. At first she was the most popular student at school with no competition, but that changed when Ariel arrived, and got the attention of all the boys there. Soon they were even in popularity but Priscilla planned to changed that by adding Ariel to her inner circle. However this ended in failure as she made fun of Ariel's belief in merfolk like Eric putting her at odds with the secret mermaid girl. Things only became harder for her when Kida Nekada enrolled into the school and joined Ariel's circle of friends. Olette Yuehama joining their class didn't help either and seeing her with Ariel made Priscilla realize that they were friends as well.

'This can't be happening! Every time she goes away on some trip, Ariel comes back with even more friends in her circle,' Priscilla thought in dread, 'If this keeps up, I'll lose all my popularity for sure! I may even lose my spot on the cheerleaders squad!'

She felt great dread and jealous for Ariel and her friends after they had started to take away her attention at school. She practically had it all the boys aside from Eric all over her and she was the talk of the school. The one that most boys would give a leg just to have lunch with her. But now the boys were talking about Ariel just as much, maybe even more. 'There must be something I can do to regain my popularity at school. Just some way,' she thought to herself as if hoping someone would answer her plea.

"You have a serious problem, don't you?"

Priscilla was snapped out of her train of thought as she looked in the direction of the voice. She saw an elderly woman dressed standing outside a purple tent with a small flap opening. She was dressed in a black silk dress that went down to her feet and a silver rim around her collarbone area. Over her dress was a transparent purple sash that covered the upper part of her dress down to her knees with a symbol of a wave of water in silver on the bottom, extra fabric with silver linings around her shoulders while hanging down her arms, a belt in the form of a large silver star with a smaller ones around the belt with red gems in the center. She wore a dark blue hood with a silver lining around the outer rim, silver symbols of the ocean all over it, held in place around her head by a red gem, and had a fabric mouth mask revealing only her eyes and forehead.

"A very serious problem indeed," the woman said in a sly tone of voice.

"Ugh look lady," Priscilla said in a slightly annoyed tone of voice, "I've seen this fortune telling routine dozens of times and there's no way some make believe ability used to scam people is going to work on me. Goodbye," she responded as she walked away as if she never heard the woman's voice.

"Not even if I say I know that you want to regain the popularity that was stolen from you, Miss Allen?"

Priscilla stopped dead in her tracks as the woman the woman not only knew what was bugging her, but also she knew her name. She turned around and looked at the woman who smile was hidden under her vial, "How do you know my name," Priscilla asked curious but also defensively.

The woman merely stepped aside and held her arm to the door for the teenage girl to enter, "Come inside and I'll show you. Free of charge as well. Anything for the true teen queen of Port Royal High," she answered while revealing she wasn't going to ask for anything in return.

Priscilla still was reluctant to enter as she didn't believe in any sort of magic or fairy tale stories, but at the same time, the offer for help to regain what she had lost was quite tempting. 'Oh come on. What've I got to lose? It's not like she can really do what she's saying,' she thought as she walked towards the tent. "All right, I'll humor you if it makes you feel better about your talents," she answered in a high and mighty tone of voice while trying to hide the slight traces of fear she had.

She entered the Fortune Teller's tent and took in her surroundings. Inside the lights were barely on with only skull shaped candles illuminating the darkness. All around the tent were different desks covered by different pieces cloth and filled with books of different sizes. All around the room were wooden masks modeled after sea life showing looks of intimidation. The largest one resembling a purple fish with green eyes, two spikes coming out of it's forehead, an overbite with four teeth on the lower jaw, and two on the upper jaw shown by it's mouth gaping open. In the middle of the room was a table with a lightish pink tablecloth, two fancy chairs with matching pink pads on them, and a crystal ball in the center of the table.

Priscilla was looking a little nervous as the fortune teller walked over to her table offered Priscilla a seat, "Have a seat and put your mind at ease," the woman said enticing Priscilla further. She walked forward while trying to ignore the masks that seem to be staring at her. Priscilla sat down as the fortune teller walked over to her chair as Priscilla's chair moved her to the table on it's own as if it was willed there by the Fortune Teller.

"Nice trick," a skeptic Priscilla said with sarcasm in her voice, "Probably using motors right? I've seen it before when my friends tried the other fortune tellers during the other festivals. Which were done better than this by the way."

The Fortune Teller simply snickered at Priscilla's words, "You're quite the confident one aren't you? It's amazing how easily Miss Namba was able to take the attention of the school boys before you could do anything about it."

The Fortune Teller's words struck a cord in Priscilla, as if she was tracing her hunger on the teenager's big red button. "Okay so you know about my problems with Ariel. Let me guess, you saw it in your crystal ball," she asked as she folder her arms as she remained on the defensive.

"I know a great deal about your little problem, but not from my crystal ball," the Fortune Teller answered as she pulled out a deck of tarot cards, "It's thanks to the cards." In her hands the deck of cards went flying into the air all together as if they were in an invisible tube but were dancing as well. They went all around the woman before she picked out three without them stopping as they piled themselves back to the side. "I believe these three are yours," she says as she lays them flat on the table.

The Fortune Teller flips the first card which shows a princess in a castle adored by the crowd as she waves at her subjects, "This card reveals that you were once praised by everyone in school, boys were captivated by your beauty, girls wanted to be friends with you to be noticed, and you were the words of everyone. Priscilla looked at the card as she saw herself in place of the princess waving at the citizens. "However," the Fortune Teller places the card down and reveals the second card showing a peasant girl dressed in rags but natural beautiful gaining the praise the princess once had from the kingdom. "Your followers were captivated by a mysterious new student who appeared like magic," the Teller explained without even looking at the card, "Soon their admiration and eyes turned on her instead of you while the name they spoke changed to the girl instead of you."

Priscilla gained a glare as she looked at the card as she saw the picture of the peasant girl resemble Ariel with everyone cheering. "Soon more girls with her beauty and mysterious air joined her," the Teller continues as she flips the card to reveal two more girls appearing next to the first one. In Priscilla's eyes, they changed to resemble Kida and Olette feeding the fire of the jealousy within her.

"Finally," the Fortune Teller placed the second card down, picked up the final card, and revealed it to Priscilla, "The final card reveals that soon all of your classmates will see them and leave you behind if events go unchanged," she explains as it shows the girls treated as royalty before flipping the card around showing the fate of the princess. All alone in the castle that has become dark and dreary and the once famed princess forgotten by the citizens.

Priscilla expression shows she's clearly angered by her words, 'It's like she has a window into my soul,' she thought as that what was she didn't want to happen, lost in the crowd, and unnoticed by the students. She calmed herself down as she looked at the Fortune Teller, "I suppose this is the part where you tell me how I can change this," asks as her desire for popularity was slowly clouding her judgment.

"Yes... My cards reveal events of the past, present, and future that are unchanged. But I can see other futures as well," The Fortune Teller answered as she waved her hands around the crystal ball as smoke began to swirl all around the inside, "I see one future where you take your rightful place above all the people and the three unworthy girls forced to cater to your beck and call."

Priscilla looks inside the ball as the fog fades to reveal an image of Priscilla being praised by the students again as Ariel, Kida and Olette carry her and her things around in rags and barefoot before Priscilla's eyes. Her eyes shine in excitement at this before she snaps out of it, "Yeah right! As much as I like the look of that, I just want my popularity back, not personal servants," she answered as she stood up from her chair. "I was right, this is all a big hoax lady," she continued as she walked out of the tent, "Better luck next time finding more gullible folks," she finishes as she leaves the tent feeling as though she had just avoided a big mistake. Unaware that the Fortune Teller was smiling under her mask as if she was the one that succeeded.

 **Back at Dance Off**

After Priscilla left, the mermaid girls were doing their best to play the game by stepping on the button matching the symbol that was closest to the top of the screen as they could. The crowd watched in silence as the song played and the girls played as they focused on their scores. As the girls were still new to the game, they weren't doing so well as they were getting low ratings.

'I can't believe people actually like this game,' Olette thought to herself as she kept trying to keep up with the rhythm, 'Still... Let's see just how good Ariel is with her land legs outside of bending,' Olette thought as she had always tested Ariel's mermaid and bending skills, but not how well adapted Ariel was to having legs.

'This is harder than I thought,' Ariel thought as she kept trying to keep up with the rhythm as well. Even though she was able to use her legs just as well as her tail, timing her movements with a game she was playing for the first time was trickier than she thought. 'But there's no way I'm going to lose Eric to Olette,' she thought in determination. Even though she danced before with Eric at different parties, this was the first time she was dancing in such a unique way.

However soon the girls' began to pick up on the rhythm of the game symbols and when to press them for the best score as their scores began to rise. At first Ariel was in the lead thanks to her better experience with legs as her ratings went from bad to just below excellent.

Olette looked to see this and felt a sense of determination, 'Oh it's on now Princess,' she thought to herself as she wasn't going to give up. She suddenly forgot about the bet and the crowd watching her. The only thing on Olette's mind was not losing to Ariel as her score began to catch up with Ariel's. Soon the two were now neck and neck as they both kept getting Excellent scores. They were now dancing at the same speed mimicking each other, as if they were mirror images, or each other's shadows.

The crowd was awestruck at how even the game had become, even the announcer was stunned as they all starred. Eric's group was equally surprised, even Eric as he kept his eyes on Ariel dancing. The way she moved, her hair moving with her movements, and her smiling expression as she seemed to have forgotten the bet, and was having fun. "Wow," Eric whispered to himself as he saw his future wife dancing.

He then felt a nudge from his side as he looked at Frey, "Bet you wish you were dancing with her up there," his best friend said. Eric smiled and nodded at the idea of dancing with Ariel again.

Elsewhere in the crowd were Seifer's group who were watching the event as well due to wanting to avoid a repeat of last year. At the moment, Rai was looking stunned at what he saw.

"Oh Man," Rai said as watched them dance, "I never knew that dancing could be so competitive, y'know."

"Neck and neck," Rai responded as she watched the girls dance while noting at how evenly matched they are.

Seifer simply kept quiet as she watched them, namely Olette as she moved with the song's beat all while keeping her hair from revealing her scars. 'She's different... From before in China,' Seifer thought to himself as he kept his eyes on her out of caution.

"Ready to give up yet," Olette asked as she continued to dance.

"Never," Ariel said confidentially, "I was just about to ask you the same thing." This earned a snicker from Olette as they continued despite their legs starting to hurt a little from dancing so much and hard.

Soon the song was about to end and the girls didn't seem to be tired. Their scores continued to rise as they kept dancing. What no one noticed though was the game system playing it was starting to overheat and overload from the intensity of the dance and scores.

"Umm is the game suppose to do that," Ralph asked Frey as he could see smoke rising from it.

Frey looked at the game system releasing a stream of smoke that was going unnoticed by the others due to their focus being on the players. "Uh oh," Frey said to himself as he had a pretty good idea as to what was about to happen.

Finally the song reached it's final verse and just as the girls jumped and slammed on the final buttons, the TV screen and game system exploded in their faces filling the area with black smoke. As soon as it cleared, the crowd looked to see who won, only to see Ariel, Olette, and the Announcer without his hat with messed up hair, and smoke marks on them and in their hair.

The crowd was left silent for a moment from what had happened, before they bellowed in excitement at how this had been the most evenly matched Dance Off game they had seen at the festival. Eric's group however were still taking in a few details.

"So... Who won," Ralph asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"I... I think it was a draw," Kida answered as she stared at the scene as if she had watched a major battle practice in Atlantis, "Although everyone else does not seem to care who won."

"Does this mean Eric has to take them both on the Tunnel of Love ride," Iago asked out loud.

"BEST TWO OUT OF THREE," Lilo cried out as Stitch shouted gibberish in agreement as the crowd cheers.

 **Girl's Bathroom**

 **1:50pm**

After making sure everyone was all right, Ariel and Olette were in the girls' room cleaning up after the explosion. "I have to say that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Olette said as she used waterbending to wet her hair and remove the dirt, "It's a shame the neither of us knew who won in the end with our scores blowing up." Ariel on the other hand remained silent as she washed her hair the same way.

"Although the bigger loss was the pass to the Tunnel of Love burning in the explosion," Olette said as she leaned on the sink waiting for Ariel, "All that dancing and leg work all the prize was burnt to a crisp," Olette continued remembering how the announcer was caught in the blast that burnt the pass to the ride to cinders, "Aww well, easy come easy go. Besides we had a lot of fun playing," she continued as she turned her head to look at Ariel with a smile on her face, "Right?"

Ariel was silent for a moment before she turned to face Olette while her face was hidden by her red hair, "I'm really glad you enjoyed that and I'm really glad we became friends," Ariel started to say as if it was something important, "But know this, I'm not giving Eric up to you," she said as she lifted her head to reveal a determined look on her face.

Olette looked surprised by this as a silent moment went by for the girls as tension filled the air. Finally, Olette's cheeks puffed up as she attempted to hold something in, until she burst out laughing much to Ariel's surprise. It was the kind of laughter that wasn't filled with satisfaction or malice, but actually joy one would hear at a comedy club. "I'm- hahaha- I'm sorry! Hahahaha! I just- hahaha- I only said that to get riled up for the game," Olette explained while trying to hold back her laughter but more kept slipping out.

"You... were," Ariel asked a little dumbfounded by that as she took that in, not only Olette's reason, but the fact that she was laughing. When Olette asked Eric to the ride, Ariel thought her new friend had grown secret feelings for Eric after China. So she was quite shocked at that new development and know how to respond after her previous argument with Mulan.

"Besides," Olette said as she started to calm down, "Consider that payback for breakfast yesterday," she said as she chuckled a little bit.

Ariel continued to look surprised by Olette's word as she remembers yesterday when she asked Olette to join her for the festival. "Oh sorry about that and for accusing you," Ariel said a little ashamed.

"Forget it," Olette said as she smiled, "I may have done some questionable things, but I know better than to steal another girl's guy. Especially when they're already engaged." Olette headed for the door, "Come on, the others are waiting for us."

Ariel stood there surprised by Olette's words. It felt like how it was before betrayal at the start of the summer, "Sure," Ariel said as she followed after her friend.

As Olette left the doors to the bathroom, she suddenly felt the familiar feeling of being watched by someone. 'It must be Seifer again. He must be still be keeping an eye on me... No,' Olette thought when she started to feel something strange in the air. It felt like a sort of energy was in the air she felt during her time with Ursula, 'There's some kind of magic in the air... There's another spellcaster in town other than myself,' Olette thought as she kept her cool on the outside as she discreetly tried to see who it was.

"Olette? Are you okay? "

Ariel's questioning voice snapped Olette out of her search as she turned around to see Ariel, "Yeah I'm okay," Olette answered Ariel's question without showing any sign of lying.

"Okay, we better hurry back before they send out a search party," Ariel said as she started to head back, "Although I wonder why Sebastian has been so quiet. I thought he would be feeling sick after all the dancing we did."

"Actually he jumped onto Eric as we were heading for the stage," Olette responded. As the two girls walked back, Olette noticed the strange feeling of being watched hadn't left her. 'There's no doubt about it... Someone with magic in them is following us. But who and what are they after,' Olette thought to herself as she continued to walk. Knowing she couldn't risk leading whoever it was back to Eric's group in risk of their secret being exposed here, Olette was left with one choice. "Oh I think I left my purse in the bathroom," Olette exclaimed as she turned around, "You go on a head and I'll catch up with you," she told Ariel as she headed back.

"Oh okay, see you back with the others," Ariel said as she continued her way back. A few minutes later, she stopped outside an empty tent when something occurred to her. 'Wait a minute... Olette didn't come here with a purse,' Ariel thought as she turned around in the direction that Olette went in. Suddenly, she felt a pair of hands grab her hands, and pulled her into the tent. "Whoa," she said while being pulled in before regaining her balance, and getting into a waterbending position. "Who's there!? What do you want with me," Ariel demanded as she prepared to defend herself.

Ariel found herself in an empty tent filled with darkness with only a few spots of light from the hole openings in the tent. Despite looking empty, Ariel knew whoever pulled her in was still in the tent with her. "If this is some kind of prank than it's not funny," she said hoping for an answer.

"Ariel. Psst. Ariel. I need to talk to you for a moment."

Ariel walked over to a corner of the tent while staying defensive, as she wasn't amused by this, as she asked, "Okay, what's going on?"

Finally, the figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing it to be Arista as she removes her hood, "Ariel, I am… your sister."

Ariel gasped at this, "No! it's impossi…" but blinked at that notion, and returned back to reality, "Oh, right. Sorry, Arista; you're right."

The older sister then got into Ariel's face, as she spoke up, "Than return with me. Join the Sea Side. Do not resist. It is your destiny."

Ariel arched an eyebrow, "Arista, did you watch Star Wars? Because that series is pretty addictive."

Arista arched an eyebrow, "Wha..." But shook her head, as she became serious, "I'm serious, Ariel. It's time to stop playing around this ridiculous nonsense, and to open your eyes. You're in terrible danger from-" Arista stops mid sentence as she notices Ariel looking down with wide eyes, "What? What is it," Arista asks as if she said something strange.

"I can't help it," Ariel said as she pointed at Arista's lower half, "You're all... leggy," she said as she wasn't expecting Arista to have legs of her own.

"Stop staring! Do you have any idea how awkward I feel being on these," Arista exclaimed as she instinctively moved her knees together at the mention of her new legs, "How do you stand being on these things for so long let along use them?"

"It took a little getting used to balancing but it became easy after that," Ariel said before she started to piece Arista being in the carnival, "Have you been following me all this time," she asked in an insulated tone of voice.

Arista stopped freaking out about her legs as she looked at her sister, "Well I wasn't going to originally but I'm glad I did because I found out the truth about this fair," she said as she showed concern for Ariel, "This fair is a trap and I've seen the proof."

Earlier

While Ariel and Olette were playing their game, a certain hooded person was hiding in the shadows of the festival. It was Arista still wearing her hood up to hide her face from the public view, especially from Ariel's view. She had followed Eric and Kida all the way from their beach house without being noticed while struggling to use her legs. 'Where did she go? I take my eyes off her for one second and she disappears on me- whoa,' she thought to herself in frustration before her legs shake again.

This day wasn't turning out at all as what she planned. Originally she would go to land, convince Ariel to come home until their sisters got back, and convince Ariel to stay with them. But now here she was, stuck on legs, surrounded by the fish eating humans everyone in the ocean fears, and she had no idea where her sister went off to.

'The sooner I find her and convince her to come home, the sooner I can stop using these things,' Arista thought to herself as she quietly made her way around the outside of the row of tents so that she would avoid being seen. She held the sides of the tent as she continued to look through the gaps between each one for her sister. However she wasn't having much luck as there were a large amount people in the crowd making Arista's mission like finding a pin in a haystack.

Throughout the day, she had seen the same events Ariel had seen, such as the Elvis portrait, the magic act, and the comedy show. Arista had to admit some of them were pretty good as they were things that weren't seen in the ocean. But she wasn't going to let herself fall prey to the wonders of the surface like with Ariel. 'I just need to stay focused on what I need to do and everything will-,' she thought until she saw something that made feel like she was going to hurl, "FLAPPIN' FLOTSAM!'

There at one of the stands that she could see through gaps was a stand with water tanks filled with different kinds of saltwater fish swimming around. There were even some in plastic bags being handed by vendor there to kids and different people.

'Oh my gosh! Those poor fish! They're being prepared to be eaten by these barbaric humans,' Arista thought in horror as she watched the fish and imagined the fear and pain they must be feeling. What she didn't know though was the stand was for selling fish to kids for an event later on. She couldn't look anymore as she turned her head away at the prelude of the horror story. 'Daddy was right! This place is horrible! WAIT,' her train of thought came to an end as she realized something horrible about all this, 'What if this is a trap for Ariel? That Thatch boy could've been playing nice until he could bring her here to sell her,' she thought in absolute fear for her sister as she imagined Ariel tied up in a fish tank with Eric selling her to the highest bidder.

Arista snapped out of her daydream and she clenched her fist to help direct her rage, 'I knew he was up to something! He's just like all other humans! Wait a minute,' she thought to herself as she started to have a new idea, "This is perfect, all I have to do is show her this, and she'll realize who that Thatch boy really is! She'll dump him just like that and come home without so much as an argument and everything will go back to normal," Arista thought as she saw the good fortune fall before her. 'Now all I have to do is find her-'

"BOOOOOMMMM!"

Arista was snapped out of her train of thought by an explosion that rung throughout the fairgrounds. She looked in the direction of the blast to see a thin line of smoke rise into the air. 'I bet I'll find her there,' she thought as she began to carefully made her way over, 'Soon I can say goodbye to these stupid things and hello to my wonderful tail again!'

End of Flashback

"After that I saw you head somewhere with your friend and waited in here hoping you would come back," Arista finished explaining without revealing the part about her sister's plans.

"You're being completely paranoid Arista," Ariel responded to what she was told, "Eric wouldn't do such a thing, especially not to her, or any of his friends." She knew in her heart that Eric would never do anything to hurt his friends and family. Especially not her.

"I know you care about him, but he's still a human," Arista defended as she used all the stories they were told when they were younger to back up claims, "He could've been pretending just for this day."

"I can't believe you would say that about him," Ariel almost yelled at her fiance being insulted in such away, "After all the good he's done for everyone, all the times he's risked his life saved me, and saving the world! How can you still think so ill of him. Plus he's a vegetarian. He's never eaten meat once in his life, especially fish."

"That maybe true," Arista admitted. She knew from all the stories of their adventures, Eric had proven himself to be an odd one by their standards for not eating fish, protecting the youngest daughter of their ruler, and saving the world time and time again. But Arista wasn't convinced, "He may not eat fish, but he could still be as deceitful as others, and just pretending," Arista argued back.

"If this is all you came here to say, then I'm not going to hear anymore of this," Ariel said as she could no longer stand hearing her future husband be insulted as she went to leave.

Arista however went to stop her, "Wait Ariel-"

Ariel turned around to face Arista, "Eric is nothing like what we were taught to think of humans! If you can't accept that, then there's nothing more to talk about," Ariel said as her anger grew more, "Besides, I don't need a babysitter. I thought I made that clear before!"

"It seems to me you still do if you ignoring the danger of what I found earlier," Arista said as her own anger was now growing, "Plus all daddy and the rest of us want is to keep you safe. Why does that make us wrong," Arista continued as she felt her sister was choosing a boy over her own family.

"It's because your version of safety is more like imprisonment! All daddy wants me to do is stay cooped up at home," Ariel argued as she didn't want to be stay in the palace after seeing so much of the surface world with her friends. It was through this that she learned to waterbend and not be a burden to Eric, "How can I learn to protect myself if I'm overprotected back in Atlantica," Ariel continued.

As the two girls continued to argue, another figure entered the tent from the darkened part of the area, and went unnoticed. The figure held a small and wet black pebble while the two girls continued to argue before throwing it at their feet without being noticed.

"So It's fine that your precious Eric lets you get caught up in danger almost every day while your family is in the wrong with not wanting you to get hurt or worse," Arista argued as both girl's anger grew more.

"That's not true! Eric and the others know I can defend myself," Ariel protested, "They trust me as I trust them!"

"More than your own family it seems," Arista argued as she had enough, "If that's how you feel than just stay here for all I care!"

"Fine I will," Ariel said as she and Arista were letting their anger control them now.

"Fine with me," Arista finished.

Suddenly, they're anger faded as they felt a rumbling below their feet.

"What's that? A surfacequake," Arista asked a little frightened.

"They're called Earthquakes but I don't knOOOOOOWWWW WHOOOAAAA," Ariel said before she and Arista screamed in shock as the ground below them exploded, and the next thing they saw was large amount of green.

 **Back with the Others**

Soon everyone present aside from Ariel and Olette could feel the slight rumbling that spread throughout the fairgrounds, including out heroes who were still waiting for Ariel.

"Whhhhoooooaaaaa," Lilo exclaimed as she almost lost her balance from the sudden rumbling, "I forgot that the Caribbean has earthquakes," she said as she did her best to hold her drink and stuffed hydra.

"Leave it to Mother Nature to wait until the Summer Festival to dish out an earthquake," Frey said as he knew from experience that a powerful enough quake would end the three day celebration.

"I don't know. This isn't so bad," Ralph said as he and Wally seemed to be able to keep their balance easily. Possibly due to Ralph's strength and size weighing him down more along with Wally's balance systems.

Suddenly the vibrating became worse as everything shook violently. It was the point where a number of people fell to the ground, tents collapsed, items fell off stands. Even Ralph and Wally submitted to the power of the heavy quake as they lost their balance and fell. Everyone lost their balance as some fell to the found such as Lilo, Stitch, Eric, Max, Obby, and Olette. Frey managed to keep his balance but it became harder when Kida grabbed him out of instinct when she lost hers. Iago on the other hand was flapping in the air. "God I love being a bird," Iago yelled triumphantly at being able to avoid the tremors.

Before anyone could respond to Iago's triumphant cry, the sound of an explosion filled the air coming from the northern part of the fairgrounds and the vibration in the ground became stronger. "What was that," Frey asked as he and Kida landed on their knees from the quake, "Don't tell me pirates are attacking today of all days!"

"I don't know... But it came from the same direction that Ariel and Olette were heading," Eric said in alarm as looked in the direction of the sound as he started to get up to go.

"Go Eric! We will catch up to you when we can," Kida said knowing Eric would want to insure his friends' safety as much as Ariel's, "That and keep Max safe!"

"Thanks! I'll be back with Ariel and Olette as soon as I can," Eric exclaimed as he started to run to look for the girls while the others did their best to get through the quake. All the while Sebastian did his best to hold on to Eric's shoulder.

Soon Ralph followed after him, "Wait up, I'll give you a hand," Ralph said as he went to catch up with Eric to help.

"Iago! Do you see what caused the explosion," Frey asked the red bird only to not get a response, "Iago? What's wrong," Frey asked as he looked at the bird who was starring in shock at what was in his sights. "What could be so shocking that would leave you-" Frey asked as he looked in the same direction only to become just as shocked, "Ooooooohhhh CRUD!"

 **Back with Eric**

After a few minutes of running while keeping their balance from the ground shaking, Eric and Ralph split up to look for Ariel and Olette.

The Seablade Bearer ran as fast as he could through the crowd on the ground from the quake, others running away in the opposite direction that Eric was running, and a mess of items that were falling all around him as he looked for the girls. "Ariel, Olette, ARIEL," he kept calling out for them in fear that they was hurt or worse, "WHERE ARE YOU ARIEL!?" After making another sharp turn he came to something that left him speechless as he stood there staring with his eyes wide open and his mouth gaping. Even Sebastian stared in awe at it.

Coming out of the tent entrance and all around it were huge roots spreading out and growing at an alarming rate. The roots Coming out of the top of the tent was an even larger than ones found on a tree and covered in leaves popping out. They spread further and further tearing the ground and anything else in the way. From the top of the tent was were skinner stalks rising higher into the air as they twisted around each other. The higher they rose, the thicker the stalks became, the more twisted they became, and the more leaves, and vines that grew out of the sides. To those who looked at it, it was the world's biggest beanstalk, and it was still rising into the air.

"Whhhooaa," Eric excitedly says at the sight before him as this was something he never thought was possible. A plant growing taller and taller than even the tallest tree he saw while exploring China and growing faster than scientifically possible.

"JUMPING JELLYFISH! That's BIG," Sebastian cried out as he saw something so tall, that it would even come out of the ocean. Sebastian looks at Eric awestruck before pinching him on the neck, "Stay focused mon! You got a job to do," the little crab reminding Eric while snapping him out of it.

"Thanks but oww," Eric said as he rubbed the side of his neck that was pinched, "You ever thought of having a manicurist look at those things," Eric joked before looking for Ariel again. "ARIEL," he yelled as he ran around the beanstalk and dodging the roots that continued to spread out, "WHERE ARE YOU ARIEL," he continued trying to yell loud enough over the sound of ground erupting and the beanstalk rising.

"-ric"

For a split second, Eric thought he heard a voice say his name, a voice that despite the sounds of destruction around him, he could always recognize no matter what. "ARIEL," he tries again to see if he'll get the same response.

"ERIC! HELP US!"

Eric looked around in to see the source until he found the source of Ariel's crying voice... In the portion of the beanstalk that was continuing to rise to the sky. "Oh no," he exclaimed at the danger Ariel was in as he did the only thing he could do in this situation. With a swipe of his right arm, he summoned the Seablade while jumping in the air, and became surrounded by a flash of blue light. When the light dyed down, he was in his Seablade Master Form complete with the Fist of Zeus gauntlet. In his new form, Eric shot into the air with small tornadoes of air making him go faster.

As Eric flew into the air, he looked over the beanstalk for Ariel, "ARIEL! I'M HERE! WHERE ARE YOU," he continued to yell out to try and find her.

"ERIC! OVER HERE!"

The sound of Ariel's voice led Eric's eyes to see the upper middle part of the beanstalk where he saw who he was looking for. At the moment, Ariel was tangled up in the vines of the beanstalk with her right arm, both legs, and right foot were held back preventing her from moving or even using her waterbending to free herself. The stalk she was tied to was one of the inner stalks that was surrounded by two others that were continuing to twist around as she was carried higher and higher as she struggled to free herself.

After finally locating his fiance, the transformed Eric flew to where Ariel was trapped as he called out for her, "ARIEL!"

Ariel looked to see Eric fly towards her as she looked in joy and relief at her savoir there once again as always. "ERIC! I knew you'd come," she shouted as she continued to fight her way out of the vines.

"I'd follow you anywhere," he said showing his dedication and love for her. He then attempted to pull the stalks in his way apart with his strength, but the stalks were too thick as they widened making it harder to pull them apart, and he was short on time due to his transformation only lasting ten minutes. Finally he reached out his free hand towards Ariel, "Take my hand, hurry! I don't know how much longer I can stay in my Master Form."

Ariel attempted to reach her own free arm out in attempt to touch Eric's hand so he could pull her out, "We also have to save Arista, she's on the other side of the beanstalk as well," Ariel yelled out as she continued to reach for Eric's hand despite the vines holding her back. Their fingers were apart by a mere inch, "I'm almost... there," Ariel said as she about to grab Eric's hand. Even Sebastian tried to help as he crawled across Eric's arm to his hand and attempted to reach Ariel's hand.

However a strange sound caught Ariel's attention as she looked up to see what it was. Above the two lovers heading towards Eric at a tremendous speed was a orb of purple energy.

Ariel looked in shock as it was heading for Eric, "Eric," she said as she turned her head to face him, "Look OUT!"

Eric looked to see the blast, but he was still holding the stalk with one hand while reaching for Ariel. Before he could defend himself, the energy hit him with a tremendous force that knocked him out of his transformation along with his time being up. This also caused him to lose his grip on the stalk and fall to the Earth below. "NOOOO! AARRRRIIIIEEELLLLL," Eric yelled out as he fell faster and faster.

"EEEERRRRIIIIICCCCCC," Ariel cried out through the sound of the beanstalk carrying her higher and higher into the air away from Eric.

Eric continued to fall faster and faster to Earth as he tried to recover from the energy blast before. He held Sebastian in his hands and clasped them hoping to keep the crab safe at the very least. He could feel the momentum on his back as it became stronger as he fell and the sound of Ariel's voice over the beanstalk growing and the wind in his ears. 'I can't move! What did that blast do to me,' he asked himself in frustration at failing Ariel as the gap between the ground and himself filled in more and more. 'I can't die now! I'm saving Ariel if it's the last thing I do!'

He shut his eyes expecting a great surge of pain, but instead he felt a sense of floating in the air, as if he was on a cloud resting in the sky. He opened his eyes to see the beanstalk was gone and the clouds no longer becoming smaller showing he had stopped falling. "I'm- I'm not dead? But how-" he turned his head to see a familiar orange pattern out of the corner of his eye making him smile, "Thanks Orpet. You're a lifesaver," Eric said to the flying carpet as it used his tassel like hands to say your welcome in his way.

Fortunately for Eric, Orpet had remained in the air watching the festival as he couldn't just go with the others without causing the folks of Port Royal to crowd around him, expose their secret, or attract the attention of Beckett's men. When he saw Eric falling from the beanstalk, Orpet shot towards him just in time to save him from being killed from the fall. "Wait Orpet. We're going the wrong way" Eric protested as he noticed they were going further down to the ground rather than up, "We have to go after Ariel, she and her sister are still trapped in the beanstalk," Eric started to pick himself up but still felt weakened as he could barely move.

Suddenly, everyone surrounded Eric looking down at him to make sure he was all right, including Olette who was found by Ralph were there, and Lilo and Stitch were sitting on Wally's shoulders. "Easy buddy," Frey said as he kept his friend from doing anything crazy, "We saw the whole thing and you took a serious blow."

"He is right. You have to rest and recover before doing anything else," Kida joined in agreeing with Frey.

"But- Ariel and- her sister are stuck on the beanstalk," Eric said as he tried to get up but his body was disagreeing with him, "I have to-"

"You need to rest. That blast isn't something you can shake off easily," Olette said as she looked Eric over, "The effects of the spell are only temporarily but are strong enough to knock out a full grown whale. You'll be no help to Ariel if you can't even move."

"You know this magic Olette," Ralph asked his friend, "Than does that mean you know a way to break it?"

"I'd hate to interrupt this meeting but this is a bad place to be discussing that topic."

Before Olette could answer, everyone looked in the direction of the voice to see Seifer walking towards them. "I just got the word from my friend in the army and they'll be here any minute along with Mr. Mercer," Seifer started to explain, "So if this oversized vegetable has anything to do with our after school activities, than this is the last place to be talking about it."

Frey thought about it for a moment and knew that Frey was right, "He's right and we all know writing reports about that is one of my weakest skills," Frey jokingly said while showing that he hated to be the one to do the explaining about their secret to Mr. Mercer, "Thanks for the heads up Seifer, we'll get back to when we have a plan. Come on everyone," Frey finished as he knew of the only safe place to be speaking of this.

"You won't have to because I'm coming with you," Seifer said as they started to leave fairgrounds but stopped when they heard him object, "I'm a part of this world now too and I intend to make sure you don't come up with anything crazy to save my town," he finished as he walked towards them.

"Oh wait a minu-" Frey started to object.

"He's right."

Everyone heard Olette's voice as they looked at her, "I got him dragged into this and now he has every right to our group therapy sessions," Olette said while trying to hide her concern with a cocky tone of voice, "Besides, unless you'd rather expand that circle to the army," she pointed behind her with her thump to the soldiers coming, "We'd better hurry."

Frey and the other soldiers saw the soldiers led by Mercer coming from the other side of the forest towards the beanstalk.

"Frey," Eric's voice got his friend's attention, "She's right."

Frey just groaned at this, "All right come on, but there this isn't a army drill so no marching," Frey joked at the idea of having to march all the way to their meeting place as the group started to head out.

"Wait, you haven't even said where we're going," Seifer called out as they failed to mention it as he caught up with them.

As the group made their way from the destroyed fairgrounds, Eric continued to lie on Orpet as he couldn't get up and looked up at the beanstalk that was beyond the clouds now. 'Stay safe Ariel, I'll be there as soon as I can. That's a promise.'

 **Chapter: New Adventure in a New Land; A Hero Makes his Debut**

 **This one was a toughie due to all that was going on. I'm sorry that I can't cut this in half for those who don't like sitting down for long periods of time. The song playing during Dance Off is Crazee Boi by Sara Choi from Teen Titans vs Justice League. I wanted to post the lyrics, but Fanfic's policy wouldn't let me. Also for those wondering about the event mentioned with the fish in bags, that's going to be a surprise for the ending of the story. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6 A Hero Makes his Debut

**Chapter 6: New Adventure in a New Land; A Hero Makes his Debut**

 **Olette's Home**

 **3pm**

Darkness was the first thing that Eric could see when he regained consciousness along with the sound of muffled voices. It was as if he woke up in a cave devoid of light and the voices were his only means of knowing his way out. He finally opened his eyes to see a ceiling. 'I'm... home,' he thought to himself trying to remember. Suddenly the memories of what happened flash through his mind as he remembered all that happened that day, including the beanstalk that carried his future wife into the sky.

"ARIEL," Eric shouted as he went wide eyed as he lifted himself up from where he was lying.

"Hmmm. You woke up faster than I thought you would."

Eric looked to his left to see everyone on the other chairs or on the floor looking at the now awake Eric. Lilo and Stitch however were watching TV in the corner and Sebastian was pacing on the table trying to calm down from this new problem. "Normally those hit with that spell are out for a day at best," Olette finishing explaining.

"Lucky me," Eric said as he began to stand up and head for the door, "I have to go. Ariel's-"

"What's your grand plan Thatch," Olette asked him as he walked around everyone, "Just climb up the beanstalk, save the damsel in distress, and be the hero again?"

"I don't know about the hero part but yeah that's pretty much it," Eric said as he was about to reach the hallway towards the door only to be stopped by a stern hand on his shoulder. Eric turned his head to see Seifer who was keeping him from leaving.

"Sure and make things worse for Ariel when you get there. You have no idea how far the beanstalk goes or what's even up there," Seifer said trying to calm down Eric and make him see that charging head first into unknown territory is foolish.

"All the more reason for me to find her before something horrible happens to her and her sister," Eric responded as he was worried about them.

"Yeah Sebastian told us while you were out cold," Frey joined in to try and persuade Eric. "Look buddy, I understand what you're going through, we all do. But Olette and Seifer are right as much as it makes my skin crawl to admit it. For all we know there are cloud creatures up there, Gods who dislike being disturbed, or worse..."

"A warrior must know when to fight and when to plan Eric," Kida said backing up everyone else, "If one attacks a new prey without first learning all one can, they are doomed to death," she finished bringing up one of her uncle's lessons for hunting.

Eric stood there as he took in the words of his friends along with their looks of concern and knew they were right despite his concern for Ariel and Arista. He sighed in defeat as he gave them a smile, "Yeah... You're all right, thanks," he said earning a smile from all of them. "So what do we know about all this," Eric said as he headed away from the door for the sofa.

Suddenly, the sound of something dropping gets everyone's attention. "Even in a day as crazy as this, the mail is still working," Frey jokes in an attempt to relieve some of the tension. Only to get a moan from Olette as she left the room to check.

"I knew it," Olette's voice came from the hallway in an annoyed way as the sound of her footsteps were heard by the others. She returned to the group carrying a letter sized envelope that she tossed to the a corner of the room. "Sorry, just annoying junk mail. So about the beanstalk," Olette said as she acted like the letter never appeared.

The room was silent though as to what would make Olette annoyed like that. Kida looked over from where she was sitting and saw where the letter landed. It was on top of a pile of yellow, letter sized envelopes all addressed to her, and had the name B. Blake on the return address. "Olette, what was that," Kida asked what the present elephant in the room was.

Olette simply shrugged but knew she had to tell them now, "I've been getting letters from some weirdo since I came back from Atlantis," Olette explained the origins of the letters.

"What's the matter? Scared of chain letters," Frey joked as that was what letters like that usually were.

"Not at all... I keep a list of victims to send those to if one ever arrives," Olette said with a sneer on her face while looking at the others. This sent a chill up their spines, even Wally's as if she was saying their names were on the list. "Besides, I know who they're from which is why I don't open them. Just some weirdo I bumped into while getting groceries a few days ago," she explained.

"Do you think he's in league with Ursula," Seifer asked her, "Since you're no longer on her payroll, that weirdo might be one of her new contacts on land."

"Not a chance. He was just some raggedy bum wearing a 300 year old leather jacket. Which is why I never opened his letters," Olette answered, "What boggles me is how he can send so many letters in just a few days-"

"Everyone," Lilo's voice said as she got their attention, "Check it out," she pointed to the television set.

They all looked to see a New Flash title card on the screen before it switched to a view of the fairgrounds and the beanstalk. "Breaking news at this time. A massive beanstalk has sprouted outside of Port Royal," came the words of a male voice. Soon the picture of the beanstalk changed to reveal a typical TV news room with a man at a desk.

The man was caucasian in his forties, bald, green eyes, and smile lines on his face. From what the audience could see, he was wearing a grey striped blazer, a white dress shirt, and a red tie. Below in bold text was the name Howard Handupme.

"This was the scene at the Summer Festival earlier today as the beanstalk burst out of the ground and caused massive damages to the fair," Howard explained while holding pieces of paper in his hand, "We now go to Bridgette Oshinomi for more on the scene."

The scene changed to the fairgrounds and a woman standing with a microphone in her hand. The woman was caucasian in her thirties with brown hair going to her mid back and blue eyes. She was wearing a blue headband, gold circle shaped earrings, a light blue shirt with a ribbon on her collar, dark blue pants held up with a black belt with a gold-gray buckle, and a pair of black high heels. Under her with bold text was the name Bridgette Oshinomi.

"Thanks Howard. As viewers can see, the unexpected beanstalk has caused a number of stands to be destroyed, and rides to be damaged," Bridgette explained as she walked through the area showing stands toppled, food scattered all over, rides broken, and soldiers and medical staff were moving all over looking for anyone hurt, "Port Royal soldiers and emergency medical employees are working non stop to find anyone who were caught in the destruction. So far it seems that no one was seriously hurt aside from a few scratches and bruises. With me now is Mr. Ian Mercer, acting Governor of Port Royal in Lord Cutler Beckett's absence," she said as she showed Mr. Mercer standing next to her. "Mr. Mercer, can you shed some light on this recent event," she asked Ian Mercer who maintained his cold glare.

"At the moment, we have no info regarding the origin of the beanstalk, or any indication of a guilty party. More info will be made to the public when available," Mercer said as he continued to direct the soldiers.

"Thank you Mr. Mercer. We take you now to a number of residents who were present for the event," Bridgette said as she began interviewing citizens present at the festival.

"I heard this huge explosion and thought it was some kind of pirate attack. Suddenly all this green bursts out forming the beanstalk as it tore through everything."

"All I could do was run as the vines shot out breaking anything in their path. I haven't been this scared since the pirate attack earlier this year."

"This beanstalk came flying out of the ground like an act of Mother Nature man! It's a sign that she's ticked, she wants to take back the land, and make it all green again man!"

"My children and I were at the ride when all the destruction happened. All I could think about was getting them to safety and then ferris wheel was knocked over. We were about to be crushed when this large muscular man came out of nowhere and managed to hold the ride up with his bare hands."

"He was strong like Superman but without the cape!"

"And he had arms like tree trunks!"

"So there you are ladies and gentlemen. A large beanstalk of unknown origin and a unknown strongman that saved a number of people from the destruction," Bridgette said as she continued, "As Mr. Mercer mentioned, more info will be made public when available. Back to you Howard."

The screen changed back to the previous room. "Thanks Bridgette. At the moment, the official word from the Port Royal Government is for us to stay calm as they look into the situation. And now here's Ollie Williams with the Port Royal Weather Report. How are you beating the last of the summer heat Ollie," Howard asked as the screen changed to a small lake near some trees and mountains.

Out of the left side of the screen, a man was seen riding a tire swing across the lake. He was an African American man with a bald head, black hair on the sides, blue eyes, and a beer belly. He was wearing blue swimming trunks as he swung on the tire swing. "SWIMMING HOLE," the man identified as Ollie Williams yelled out.

"Thanks Ollie. More info later on folks," Howard finished as the screen changed back to the show on before.

Everyone took all that in as silence filled the room. Ralph was looking from side to side as he tried to avoid suspicion as everyone minus Olette turned to face Ralph as he continued to look as innocent as he could. Finally he stopped as he saw them all look at him with neutral expressions. However for Ralph, he was getting a "Please explain" message from them as he could feel the imaginary pressure from them. Finally he groaned in defeat, "All right, I get it. I almost blew our secret and I'm sorry," Ralph said thinking he blew it by jumping in like that, "But I was only looking for Olette when the beanstalk was growing. I just happened to be there when the ferris wheel began to fall and," he stopped when he noticed no one was angry at him, "You're not angry?"

"Ralph, why would we be angry," Eric asked him with his usually smile, "I would've done the same thing in your place."

"All of us would have," Kida added with a smile to her friend.

"Just not by grabbing the ferris wheel," Frey added his comedic charm as he agreed with them.

Ralph just smiled at that, "Thanks everyone. So what do we do now?"

"My friend in the army told me Mr. Mercer plans to cut the Beanstalk down as soon as the clean up is done," Seifer started after reading his text message from his inside source, "But Harcourt is trying to convince Mercer to allow him to organize an expedition up the beanstalk. Something about a legend worth investigating." Iago jumped a bit as he tried to go unnoticed, but Frey noticed it as he looked at Iago while Seifer continued, "Not only that, but there are nature activists that want to keep it up. Something about it being the work of Mother Earth that should go undisturbed."

"Well why don't they," Eric asked not seeing the harm in it, "It's not like it's in the middle of the town or anything."

"Simple, it scares them," Olette said getting everyone's attention, "To Mercer and possible Beckett, it's something strange, and they have no control over. So to maintain their sense of control over the town, they want to get rid of anything that stands out in their eyes." She had seen it a number of times in human society. Either the odd one is accepted for following the rules or they are shunned for not fitting in.

A moment of silence filled the room from Olette's answer. "That's deep... Kind of," Frey said weakly. He, Eric, and Seifer lived in Port Royal most of their lives so they knew about Lord Beckett's harsh rules, but they never saw it that way.

"I wouldn't say that. Mercer and the others don't know how far up the beanstalk goes," Seifer said defending the army, "For all any of us know, it could be longer than the island itself. If something happens that causes it to fall in the wrong direction, it could land on my town, and cause more damage."

Olette simply smiled, "Hmph, Whatever helps you sleep at night. I think we should stop focusing on what the town thinks and start wondering what Ursula has to do with this."

"Ursula," Eric stood up in surprise at this new info, "You think she's behind this?"

"I'm not sure the reason, but I think she was at the festival today. That or someone working for her," Olette said.

Lilo: "Maybe it's someone using magic similar to Ursula. All sorts of things happened in China after all," Lilo pointed out, "Maybe you all became famous and made some enemies without even knowing it." Stitch pulls out a pair of sunglasses and strikes celebrity poses.

"True, but when Ariel and I were on our way back, I... Sensed a familiar magic in the air. The same kind I felt whenever I was around Ursula," Olette explained as she had spent the most time around Ursula, "I went off on my own to check it out and told Ariel I would catch up with her. I should've have brought her with me."

"Hey, we can't all know the future, at least not every twist and turn," Eric reassured her, "You were thinking of Ariel's safety like friend would."

"He is right Olette. Besides now we have an idea on who is behind all this," Kida added in, "All we have to do now is find a way to bring the girls down safely."

"And doing it before King Triton finds out about dis," Sebastian added from the table where he was standing, "Who knows how he'll respond to two of his daughters in danger mon! I'll tell you how he'll respond," he says as he walks over to the end of the table where Stitch was still posing as he grabbed the blue creature's face, "HE SAY HE'S GONNA KILL HIMSELF A CRAB! THAT'S WHAT HER FATHER'D SAY!"

As the group started to think along with a confused Olette as she wondered how the group could trust her after all that she did, Frey began to notice something very odd. He looked behind him at the sofa where Iago stood with his back to the group. "Iago, you've been awfully quiet ever since the beanstalk appeared," Frey asked suspiciously at his house guest.

The bird became tensed as his feathers stood up, "Me? I guess I'm just in more shock than anyone else," Iago said while trying to hide his anxiety, "Maybe I had some bad fruit at the fair. I think I'll just fly home and turn in- HEY!" Just as Iago is starting to fly out, he is grabbed by the back of his neck by Frey, and looks at the bird in the eyes, "What do you think you're doing," Iago cried out in annoyance.

"I'll tell you what I think and it's you know more than your letting on about our current topic,"Frey said in an accusing way as he could tell that Iago was hiding something.

Iago went wide eyed at this accusation, "What!? Nope! I don't know anything about that oversized vegetable," Iago responded while trying to worm his way out of Frey's grip, "The bird knows zip, zilch, and nadda about it!"

Frey gives Iago a stern look not buying it. "Okay, it's clear that you won't talk to me. So would you like to talk to Eric," Frey asked as he put the parrot in front of a surprised Eric, "The guy who beat the Mandarin in combat, fought undead pirates, and whose future wife is in a place that you have knowledge about."

Despite the threat, Iago simply laughed as he turned his head to look at Frey, "Nice try Frey. You and I both know that Thatch here couldn't hurt his friends willingly or unwillingly," Iago pointed out as he knew Eric's kind nature.

Everyone looked at Eric waiting for his response. "It's true," he finally said admitting that he could never hurt his friends, willing or non willing.

Frey thought for a moment before getting an idea, "Okay... Than how about talking to Olette," Frey said as he turned the hand holding Iago towards Olette, "The sea sorceress in training, whose best friend is stuck on the beanstalk, and who trained under Ariel's master in waterbending."

Iago simply laughed again at this threat, "Please, Mozenrath knew spells, and did things that would haunt your nightmares for weeks! I doubt she could do anything like that," Iago responded.

"He's right... My spell casting isn't anywhere as strong as his," Olette revealed as she was far from ready for advance spells.

"You two aren't helping," Frey said with a dead panned expression at his threats failing.

"Stick to the goofy cop Frey. It's what you're good at," Iago confidentally said despite still being in Frey's hand, "Besides, I'm a parrot, not a stool pigeon."

Frey thought for a moment until he got a sneaky idea. "In that case... How about talking to Stitch about it," Frey asked in an evil sounding voice as he knew what Stitch would most likely do. "I'm sure he'd love to talk over dinner. Right Stitch?"

Stitch walked over and sniffed the sweating Iago as he knew what sort of appetite the little blue Atlantean creature had. However much to everyone's surprise, Stitch sticks his tongue out, "Naka jemo kepalla," he said showing he wasn't going to eat Iago.

Lilo looked to her cousin and was about to translate as she knew what Stitch was saying, "He said-"

"What do you mean you don't eat live things anymore," Frey exclaimed as he wanted Stitch to elaborate further on his answer, "I've seen you eat a whole roast chicken in one sitting!"

"Hicka jema zalza mabelu kachalal," Stitch said in his usually gibberish that few understood.

Frey took that in and shrugged, "Well yeah, last time you eat Sebastian, Ariel scolded you, but this is a..." Frey suddenly went wide eyed as a thought began to fill his mind with horror, "OH NO," he said as he pounded his forehead with his free hand, "I'm beginning to understand what STITCH SAYS," he exclaimed and sobbed in horror at being able to understand such gibberish. Kida patted Frey's shoulder for comfort.

"Well so much for that," Iago said triumphantly at his victory, "Now if you'd just let me go-"

"I wonder... How are we going to tell King Triton about this," Kida asked out loud to the others, "If the king finds out we cannot help not just one but two of his daughters, who knows how he may respond," she continued as everyone listened, including Iago as the parrot began to imagine the King of the Seas' response to the situation. "He could flood the entire world, submerge all lands in the sea," Kida continued as the scenario played out in Iago's mind making him sweat in fear more and more, "All birds would have to stay in the air for the rest of their lives and leave themselves vulnerable to the larger predatory-"

"ALL RIGHT! I'M A STOOL PIGEON! A STOOL PIGEON," Iago cried out in horror. Frey released Iago from his grip as he lands on the table in the center of everyone. "Well to put it simply, the redhead and her sister are probably on their way to Giant's Country," Iago said.

"Giants County," everyone responded in confusion, even Wally with his usually sound effects.

"Giant's Country? So Ariel and her sister are at an amusement park in the sky," Frey asked as the name sounded like a theme park attraction. Something that made Wally, Ralph, Lilo, and Stitch laugh. The others remained silent.

"I have heard of that place," Kida said breaking the laughter as everyone listened to her, "It is supposed to be a terrible place where dangerous creatures were banished before the Maebemuk. My uncle used to tell my hunting group the story of how my father along with other rulers of the world joined forces to fight against an army of Atlantean giants gone mad. But I always thought it was just a story to scare the new blood," she finished as she remembered her uncle's stories and how it affected some of the new hunters.

"Considering all the crazy stuff I've seen in China, I'd say it's safe to say it's true," Seifer responded to Kida's story.

"That's not how I heard it toots. Back when I worked with Mozenrath, he would always drag me on his expeditions for some magic thing or another," Iago said getting everyone's attention again, "Well, one time when we were in this hidden corner of London where they trade in magic and stories. We were at this bar and it had the best darn jam filled crumpets I ever had. And such charming people..."

"Iago, get to the point," Olette said as she could tell he was going off topic.

"Uh, anyway, that's where Mozenrath and I heard about Giant's Country, the equivalent of El Dorado for sorcerers and villains. It's supposed to be this place in the sky where an unstoppable army of giants exist," Iago continued, "The legend says that thousands of years ago they came down a beanstalk and began to steal anything they could grab. From animals, to priceless treasure, food, and they gained an especially strong liking for humans."

"You mean as collectibles like what Wally does, the pictures I take, or something else," Lilo asked thinking it was something harmless while Wally looked excited at the idea of all sorts of treasures in Giants Land to scavenge.

"Actually... The giants see humans as a rare delicacy," Iago answered as a cold chill filled the room for everyone, "One that was meant to be eaten alive and starting from the head..."

For a moment, the room was silent as everyone took that bit of knowledge in. The idea that humans were considered food by another creature was something that would scare anyone.

"You mean... They ate people that were still alive," Ralph asked finally breaking the silence in the air.

"Bones and all," Iago answered as he continued, "Anyway, this King Erik guy along with two other kings ganged up on the giants with all they had and could barely hold them back. Even the Golden Army wasn't able to defeat them. In the end, the three kings used the heart of a dead, combined it with magic to create a crown that could control them, and sent the giants back to their land. After the war was over, the rulers divided the crown and two other objects among themselves to make sure the giants couldn't be used by anyone ever again. That's " Iago finished the story.

An silence fills the room as the friends process the story until Frey shot up.

"My life... Is just starting! There are still things I need to do! I need to get my proposal perfected! Grow my first mustache! Plan out the future education plan for our future kids... though before that, I need to plan out the most romantic honeymoon in order for the conception of our children," Frey exclaimed in panic as he was clearly disturbed by this news, "But now you're telling me that Ursula somehow grew that beanstalk in order to gain more power to use against us? Then there's the army of giants that not even the Golden Army or the Mandarin could defeat!? Has hope truly left us? IS THIS THE END OF EVERYTHING," he finished yelling in horror.

"Get over it," Olette and Seifer exclaimed at the same time not having the time to focus on Frey's mental breakdown. The two realized they said the same thing at the same time as they turned to each other and looked away. Seifer and Olette maintained stern looks in their eyes but Olette also attempted to hide a small hint of red on her face.

"Wow... Do you all realize what this means," Eric asked the group with a growing smile on his face, "If what Iago and Kida says is true, that means that the three kings that worked together were rulers of the Atlanteans, Merpeople, and Humans. Which means that there was a time when all three kingdoms lived in peace and out in the open," Eric finished as his goal for the three worlds to live together seemed closer than before.

"Yeah well that was a long time ago," Olette replied while remembering her past, "Now let's focus again on how we're going to handle this problem."

Iago flew in front of Olette as he hovered there with his wings, "Were you not listening to me!? It took three armies to banish the giants, not beat, BANISH," he squacked as pointed out the odds they were against as he continued, "We are two chosen swordsmen, a sorceress in training, an otter, a crab, a knife man, a warrior princess, a robot, a mini giant, two dogs, a little girl, an Atlantean creature, a rug, and me! Wait don't count me."

"Who said anything about fighting them? That war happened who knows how long ago," Ralph pointed out, "They probably all passed away with a new less greedy generation by now. I even bet they are treating the girls like queens up there right now," Ralph finished as he imagined giants like him treating Ariel and Arista like guests at a five star hotel with their every wish being the giants' command. However that daydream was shattered by Iago yelling in Ralph's face.

"Why do you think the armies had to resort to banishing them and hiding the relics in the first place," Iago yelled out, "They are immortal! That means they LIVE FOREVER! They're probably up there right now getting ready to invade us even as we stand around and talk," he finished as the image of blood thirsty giants ready for war entered their minds.

Stitch simply stuck his tongue out before extending his extra arms, "Gigoto asmala oh MAGAN," he yelled as he pulled out tons of Atlantean guns, blades, and one rocket launcher.

Kida saw that and panicked, "No Stitch! Not in the-" but the rocket accidentally fires flying around the room before Kida could tell him to put it away.

The rocket headed for the wall as everyone jumped out of the as the rocket exploded. The group slowly came out of hiding from all over as they saw a huge hole in the wall leading outside as sunlight poured in.

Stitch looks nervous as he started to put his weapons away, Olette gets right in his face with an angry glare before he can finish. "That's... Not... Helping," She said while attempting to contain her anger through gritted teeth.

"Nibma," Stitch says looking nervous and sad.

"He says that he's sorry and before that he said stone age giants are no match for today's weapons," Lilo said from behind the wall as she walks out.

Olette took a deep breath and exhaled to remove her anger as she looked at Lilo, "It's fine, there should be a house fixing spell somewhere in my book. More importantly, Iago's right about the weapons. If the giants are immortal, than any sort of weapon no matter what era would be unable to kill them."

"If that's true, than makes it more important that I go to Giant's Land and save Ariel and her sister now," Eric said as he helped Seifer put the couch back up from the explosion. "I'll fly up using my Master Form, find the girls, and bring them back down safe and sound before King Triton finds out and the beanstalk is cut down," he finished going for the hole in the wall more determined than ever. He was stopped though by Seifer who grabbed his shoulder.

"Hold it Thatch. If these giants are as strong as 7/11 over there says, than you should save your Master Form for an emergency," Seifer said trying to talk some sense in Eric, "Unless you found a way to use it as long as you want." Eric didn't say anything or move. But his expression said that Seifer was correct in his assumption. "Plus doing all that with limit time and carrying both girls down will make being discrete impossible with the soldiers standing guard."

"In that case, let's divide and conquer," Frey suggested, "What if Orpet takes Eric and Iago up, flies back down to pick up me and Kida, and we fly to Atlantis to pick up some extra vehicles? That way we have more means of flying and defense if the giants attack," he suggested to the others which no one objected to until...

"WHAT!? Why do I have to go," Iago yelled out in horror in the air, "Why not send Ralph?! He has the muscles to fight off the giants!"

"Because you made it clear that this requires being sneaky instead of fighting," Ralph said, "Plus these arms make being stealthy really hard."

"Well forget it! There's no way I'm going up to a place where humans are considered a midnight snack" Iago defiantly said as he landed on the table and folded his arms, "There's nothing you can say or do to make me go!"

Olette simply smirked as she shrugged at the parrot's answer, "That's a shame. I mean if what you said is true about the legend, there's bound to be heaps of gold and treasure from when they first invaded the land. Just imagine it, old coins, artifacts, and treasure that museum curators and collectors would pay a fortune for," Olette said knowing what her words would do.

In a flash, Iago was gone from the room, only to return with tons of bags on his back, and all sorts of blades on his wings, belly, and legs for battle, "When do we leave," he asked with the idea of treasure in his eyes.

Everyone just laughed a bit before Eric look towards Orpet, "What do you say Orpet? Do you think you're up for it," Eric asked him. Orpet gave him a thumbs up showing he was up for it. "Thanks and as soon as we're all ready to go."

With that, Eric and Frey's group started to get ready for their dangerous venture.

 **On Top of the Beanstalk**

 **10pm**

High up in the dark sky, the beanstalk stood higher than any man-made building could hope to reach. High enough that it even surpassed the clouds. Tangled at the top of the beanstalk was a still tangled Ariel unconsciousness from trip up.

A cold wind blew across the top of the beanstalk and on Ariel as she slowly began to wake up. At first her mind was about to doze off again, but the sound of falling water now being registered in her mind prevented that. She slowly opened her eyes as she took in her surroundings. 'What... Where,' she thought to herself as she didn't recognize her environment, but her eyes fully shot open as the memory of before flashes in her mind. "Eric," she cried out as she tried to move after remembering how he was blasted by something while trying to save her, but was stopped by the vines. 'That's right... He tried to save me and-' she thought to herself when she suddenly remember her sister. "Arista," Ariel cried out as she waited for a reply back from her sister, "ARISTA!"

With no reply, Ariel started to work on getting untangled of the vines. With a bit of force, she was able to free her right arm. However the other vines were much harder to pull due to number of knots they were in. "Drat," she said to herself in frustration, but then smiled when she had an idea at looking at the beanstalk, and remembered her training with Olette. "If I can just," she said as she waved her free arm around in circular pattern. Suddenly, the vines began to vibrate until streams of water began to flow out of vines. As more and more water flowed out of the vines around her limbs, they began to go from a healthy green to a dried brown, and shriveled. With a smile, Ariel stopped spinning her arm, and was able to break free of the vines that held her down as he body of water she made fell from the sky.

'Well that was easy,' Ariel thought as she carefully made her around the beanstalk. But she stopped when she saw the sight before her, the sight of endless clouds, the night sky, and the moon looking brighter and larger than she had ever seen. "Wow," she quietly said as she sight before her kept her in place as she smiled at this new sight, 'This is amazing... It's like I'm on the surface of the surface world,' she thought to herself. She continued to look as she carefully moved around the beanstalk via the vines wrapped around the main body of the plant. 'I wish I could show Eric and the others this,' she wished but remembered who she was looking for again, "Arista? Are you up here," she called out as she listened for her older sister's cry. No word though so Ariel continued to carefully move around the beanstalk looking for Arista.

Finally after moving around to the other side of where she was, Ariel found Arista. There she was, out cold from the ascent, and just as tangled as she was earlier. Ariel moved and started to remove the water from the vines wrapped around her sister. After a few minutes of waving her arms, she was able to weaken enough vines so that Arista could move. "Arista," Ariel asked trying to wake her up, but she remained asleep. Ariel took a deep breath as she knew only one way to wake her up quickly, "Sorry about this," she said before blasting Arista in the face with the water from the vines.

With that Arista finally woke up as she coughed out water. "What, who, when, how," she said as her mind tried to organize itself.

"Sorry," Ariel said getting Arista's attention as she stared at her sister who had an apologetic smile on her face, "I guess I used too much water."

Arista looked confused by this until her memories flashed before her eyes. "That's right, we were arguing, and then the seaquake," she said as began to remember.

"On the surface, they are called earthquakes," Ariel pointed out, "We were caught in a beanstalk that grew from the ground. Eric tried to save us but someone attacked him before he could," she looked saddened and worried for him. Arista however didn't reply as she gained a shocked expression as she stared at something. Ariel looked confused by Arista's behavior, "What are you staring," Ariel asked as she turned only to became just as shocked, "...at," she weakly said.

There before the girls was huge angry human like face with a gaping mouth just as a flash of lightning filled the air. However the face was slightly different from a human, it's nose looked as there it was smeared onto the face with the nostrils in plain sight, and it's teeth or slightly jagged.

The two mermaid princesses looked in fear at the sight of the face as it stared right into their souls. "It's going to eat us," Arista screamed in fear, "Let's get out of here," she said as she freed herself from the vines. "Come on Ariel," she said as she grabbed her sister's to pull her down, but Ariel simply walked forward. This caused Arista to make a panicked expression, "Ariel what are you DOING," she asked her sister in alarm, "You're practically walking to the jaws of-"

Ariel simply placed her hand on the face as she looked up at it. It felt smooth, hard, and cold. She sighed in relief before turning to look at Arista, "It's okay Arista. It's just a stone statue," Ariel said as she turned to look at her sister who was stunned at this discovery. "See," Ariel asked as she rubbed her hand on the stone, "Oh and whatever you do, don't look down."

The stunned Arista stood up and carefully made her way towards her sister. "Why don't I want to look-" she lost her balance, which caused her to look down at the land below. Far far below from where she was, "AAAAAAH! Ariel, I'm looking DOWN," she screamed in horror as she instinctively jumped towards Ariel. She landed on the stone wall and began to breath heavily from the sight she had witnessed along with the sensation. She had felt the feeling of gravity before on the beach, but the thought of falling from so high was filling her with fear that it paralyzed her. After a moment of heavy breathing, she opened her eyes to see Ariel giving Arista her usually smile while still leaning on the stone, and saw she was leaning on the stone face as a water falls from the mouth to the clouds below. "It is stone... Like back home," she says as she calms down remembering the feeling of rocks and stones below the sea.

Suddenly it began to pour rain from the sky as the two girls became completely soaked. "Come on," Ariel said as she climbed into the mouth of the stone face. She then turned around and held her hand out to the hesitant Arista, "It's better in here than out there right now," Ariel said pointing out the obvious. Despite her fear of the human world, Arista took Ariel's hand as she climbed into the mouth.

Despite being safe from the rain, the cave was filled with a cold from all the running water. The two girls shivered as they took in the cave's interior. It was a surprisingly clean cave with the floor being nothing but smooth stones from all the water but the walls and ceiling was dirt. Growing down from the roof of the cave were long roots like vines.

"N-N-Now wh-wh-what," Arista asked as she held her arms and shivered, "It's to-too cold stay in here," she pointed out as their wet clothing would make it easy for them to become too sick to climb back down.

An equally cold Ariel looked around until she noticed the breeze was coming from in front of her, as if there was another entrance to the cave, "W-W-W-We should go deeper in," Ariel responded as she started to walk, "T-TH-TH-There might be an exit where we can warm up."

Arista wanted to argue as she had a bad feeling, but she couldn't deny they needed to warm up, and she caught up with her sister. As the two made their way through the cave, an awkward silence filled the air from their argument before as they walked next to each other. Both girls didn't know what to say after what they said before at the tent. This continued on until they finally reached the end of the cave. They both made their way out and came face to face with a sight that left them both staring in disbelief.

Before the girls was a grand clearing of green grass, parts that were broken stone walls, and tree trunks that looked as though they were torn down rather than cut. The clearing went on for miles all around the area, like they were standing on the shore near Eric's house on the beach with only the bright light of the moon providing illumination. But the deeper in, they could see an endless forest of tall trees that were higher than anyone ever imagined. Trees so high that they made the trees back in Port Royal looked like saplings.

Ariel looked in amazement at this new sight as she forgot about the cold, "Amazing... I've never seen such an amazing forest like this," Ariel said comparing to the forests and jungles she had seen on the surface. "Isn't it amazing Arista," she asked her sister while forgetting about the awkward feeling from the cave.

Arista didn't answer as she was speechless at the sight before her. The huge trees were amazing, but also intimidating to her. 'These things are so much bigger than the ones behind Eric's house... But why are they so much taller here than... below,' Arista thought to herself as she started to realize something about where she was. 'Wait... Extremely tall coral, high above the human's land, and we came up a beanstalk... This all sounds really-' She went wide eyed in horror as she finally realized where she and her sister was. 'Oh no, oh no, OH by Grandpa Neptune's beard! We're in Giant's Land! Just like in the book,' Arista realized in horror as she covered her mouth with fists, and her legs turned so her knees were touching, "My little sister and I are in the place with the Giants. Man eating merfolk eating Giants," she exclaimed without realizing it out of panic as the horrors she felt the day she heard the story came back to her in full force.

"OH this isn't happening! This is not happening," Arista told herself trying to keep calm, "Ariel! We need to get out of here-" Arista started to say in panic and wanting to protect her sister. Only to see that Ariel was already on her way to the forest. If Arista could see her, she would see spark of adventure in Ariel's eyes like that day they went to the ship as kids.

"Come on Arista," Ariel cried out as she continued heading for the forest, "Let's see what if we can find anything here."

"Ariel, wait! It's dangerous in their," Arista cried out as she awkwardly ran on her legs, "Why do I feel like I've done this before," she asked herself as she ran into the forest.

 **Deeper in the Forest**

In a manner of minutes, Ariel had wandered her way into a portion of the forest far from where she started. She looked around her at the trees that were even taller up close. All sorts of plants she had never seen before grew all over, from flowers, to bushes, and other kinds of plants. Not that far from her was a mountain of stone that could easily dwarf the kingdom of Atlantica.

"Wow," Ariel said as she looked around, "I wish I brought my bag with me for my collection," she said as she looked at the new things around to collect. What she failed to notice were the large footprints in the grass.

"Ariel!"

Ariel turned to see Arista stumble before her little sister. "Can you believe this Arista? The trees are so much taller here compared to Port Royal and China," Ariel said with a smile of amazement, "If they grew in the ocean, they would be poking out of the ocean's surface. Isn't this amazing Arista?"

"Yeah, great," Arista said looking around nervously at every corner of the area, "Okay, we looked around, let's go back before we get into trouble." She was too scared to really take notice of the area's beauty.

"Why are you so scared Arista," Ariel asked her, "There's nothing wrong with this place. Think of it as a new adventure like before. Plus it's much better than waiting in the cold to dry off and for Eric."

"I have nothing against a new adventure with you," Arista responded as she grabbed her sisters arm to urge her back the way they came, "But this place is way too dangerous. There's no way either of us and your human can could handle what's here! We should go back to the beanstalk and climb back down now!"

"Arista, we're not kids anymore," Ariel said not moving from her spot, "I'm a lot stronger now thanks to my training with the water bending masters and so is Eric."

"I'm not saying your weak but I'm being serious," Arista argued back, "Besides what makes you think your human is even on his way here now? For all we know he could be on the surface eating a fish or something behind your back," Arista pointed out as she still had a low opinion of him.

This however made Ariel quiet cross as she glared at her sister, "First of all, his name is Eric. Second, he always thinks of my safety just as much as you, and daddy do. But he also trusts and believes in me. Third, he can't be everywhere, that's why I trained to become stronger for when he's not around, and so that he doesn't have to worry about me," Ariel continued to point out, "Finally, Eric is a vegetarian. That means he doesn't eat any kind of meat."

Arista looked at her sister's glare and knew that she would stand up for Eric like before in the tent. "I'm sorry, that last comment was a low blow," Arista admitted, "But still, what makes you think he's coming at all," she asked Ariel wanting to know the reason for such deep belief in a human.

"It's because he's my love, my husband, and my friend," Ariel said defending Eric, "He would never let anything happen to me, his family, and his friends. There's not a doubt in my mind that he's on his way here right now!" As the two argued, they were unaware that there were being spied on from behind the trees as the anger between the two girls continued to rise more and more.

Arista continued to glare at her little sister for her naivety at holding faith in a human. Finally Arista had enough, "Well why don't you just stay with your precious Eric and I'll go back to the sea and leave it at that," she exclaimed letting her anger to do the talking now.

"That suits me just fine thank you very much," Ariel exclaimed with just as much anger as the two girls turned their backs to each other in anger.

"FINE," Arista yelled out as she started to walk away in anger.

"FINE," Ariel replied back not caring her sister was leaving.

"I don't think so!"

A third voice filled the air surprising the girls as suddenly a loud boom and a cloud of dirt filled the air. Ariel and Arista were knocked off their feet as they sat on the ground looking at the source of the sound. There before them was the thing that Arista was afraid of the most as it stared down at the girls.

The being before the girls had had tan skin from years of being closer to the sun than humans did below. He had brown medium length hair that stood up on it's end, green glaring eyes, and bits of brown hair on the side of his lips. He had a muscular build with medium sized muscles for speed and strength. He was wearing a dirty brown toga that exposed the right side of his chest and went down to just above his kneecaps. He also wore a pair of horns tied by a rope like a necklace and a chain around his waist as a belt. Standing 25 feet tall, stood a native of Giants Land, a Giant named Thum.

Arista sat there in fear as the Giant glared at both girls. "It's a- a- a," Arista stammered unable to find the words due to her fear consuming her.

"The word your looking for... Is a giant," Thum responded in an evil tone of voice. As he went to grab Arista, Ariel used the water from the trees to attack with high pressure water blades. The Giant dodged but was hit by another as he backed away in defense. "A water dancer?! HERE," he cried out.

"Run Arista," Ariel cried out as she prepared another blade of water from a tree, "I can handle this giant!"

"I won't leave you," Arista yelled out. Despite their previous spat along with her fear of the giant, she wasn't going to abandon her sister in the face of such a danger.

"That's fine with me!"

Before Arista could respond, she was grabbed by a large hand, and held tightly by her abdomen. As she was quickly lifted up into the air, her bracelet fell off her wrist, and her mermaid tail returned in a flash of red light. When the hand stopped, she was face to face with another giant.

This one was as tall as tall as the first one along with the same tanned skin. However he had orange hair in the form of a small mohawk and sideburns that went down all the way to his chin. He had brown eyes and very crooked teeth. He had a stronger build compared to the first giant as his muscles were much larger. He wore a cape with shoulder pads that seemed to be made of old fur. It was held on by a chain and two circular markings of some sort. He also wore an armband around his right arm and a brown kilt that went to his knees. It had two rubber circular items hanging on the left of his belt that was covered with white circular bones. It was Fleshthumpeater, on prime example of a mean giant.

The second Giant looked at Arista with an evil looking smile, "Look at this delicious looking bean," he said as he licked his lips, "Since you a fish lady, I bet your taste smelly like other fish. The stinkier, the better."

Arista was terrified beyond her mind at this turn of events as she tried to free herself from the grip. 'It's just like Daddy said! They're real,' she thought in horror at her situation as the giant prepared to eat Arista head first.

Fortunately, before the second Giant could eat her, a blast of water hit the arm holding Arista, and the giant stopped. This caused the Giant to panic, "AHHHH! YUCKY WATER," he yelled out in fear as he backed away from Ariel while still holding Arista.

"Are you serious," Arista asked dumbfounded by this new info, "You're afraid of water?!"

"If you don't want any more yucky water," Ariel began to threaten Fleshthumpeater, "Than put my sister down right- AHHHH!" Before Ariel could finish, she was grabbed by the Thum while not paying attention. She was held like Arista but her arms were held by the Giant so she couldn't water bend.

"No more of your fancy water tricks mermaid," Thum said as he walked over to the first one, "Now how did you get here?! Was it the runt again," he demanded. The girls didn't reply though which only made the him more angry. "You two couldn't have made it up from Earth without a beanstalk now where is it," he demanded again but neither girl gave an answer. "Fine, if you won't talk to me or Fleshlumpeater here," THum said with a hint of annoyance in his voice, "Then you can talk with someone else!" Just as he finished, two more giants appeared out of the darkness of the forest.

Colossal, lean and disheveled giant with unruly red hair and half a beard

One giant was like the others but slightly taller and leaner than the others. He had unruly red hair and half of a beard. Like the others, he wore brown worn clothing but he wore shashes made out of street signs around his chest. He also wore no pants and went barefoot like the other giants. This was Bloodbottler, the second in command of Fleshlumpeater's gang of giants.

The other giant was slightly shorter than the others but wider width wise. He had brown hair on the side of his hair leaving the rest of his head bald along with a thick beard and mustache. All he wore was a brown kilt like Fleshlumpeater but with less accessories on it. This was Childchewer, another member of Fleshlumpeater's group.

As Ariel continued to try and free her arms so she could attack again, Arista struggled in equal vain as she was now surrounded by four giants instead of one.

The first Giant looked at Fleshlumpeater's group as he held Ariel, "We'll split up and head back to the castle from here. I'll look for anyone else that might've followed these two fish girls here," the Giant told Fleshlumpeater's group, "You three head back to the castle with that one. And don't hang out in this forest for too long! You know who tends to hang out around here," he finished as he ran off with Ariel.

"Let me go," Ariel cried out in vain as she became further and further away from the other group, "ARISTA!"

"ARIEL," Arista cried out as she kept trying to wiggle free but to no avail thanks to the Fleshlumpeater's strength.

"I guess we should get going to head back to the castle," Childchewer said as he looked up at the trees as if looking for something.

"Don't be paranoid," Bloodbottler told Childchewer in an annoyed tone of voice, "He doesn't show up at night. We can take as long as we want with this one," he finished as he looked at Arista with a sneer as he took a whiff. "This one smells really yummy. Better than the ones before," he said as he started to drool in hunger.

Arista looked horrified at the idea of being eaten by her childhood nightmares. 'This is it,' she thought in horror, 'This is how I'm going to die...'

"The only one who's going to eat this one is me," Fleshlumpeater told his two underlings, "I be the one who caught the fishey so I get to eat it! Besides, the General only needs to interrogate one of the fishes for the way down!" Then he lifted Arista in the air over his mouth as he opened his mouth as wide as he could.

"No please," Arista begged in fear at her impending death, "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPP!"

"WWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOO YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

The giants and mermaid look in the direction of the sound to see a cloaked figure swinging on a vine while yelling triumphantly as he swings towards the giants who stare in surprise. Suddenly the vine snaps in mid air as the cloaked youth flies right over.

"WWWWWWHHHHHOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

The giants and mermaid watch as the cloaked figure flies over them and lands in some bushes with a loud thump. The stunned audience look in the direction waiting for a sign of life, until finally...

"I'm okay," loud yet in pain voice came from the bushes where the figure had landed.

"Not him again! I thought he didn't come out at night," the bald-headed giant yelled out as he was not in the mood for whoever that was. He looked at the others giants, "Let's get out of here before-"

Before the giants could run away with their other prize, they are stopped by a triumphant "AH HA!" Up in the tree before them, the group saw the cloaked figure who had quickly climbed up like a squirrel, and stood above them.

He threw his cape of to reveal himself as an eighteen Caucasian British young man with tanned skin, brown hair combed to the left, and spiked at the ends, with brown eyes. He wore a black turtleneck shirt with the right sleeve missing, and the left sleeve stopping under his elbow, and black fingerless gloves. He also wore a dark yellow hoodie vest with black trim on the sleeves, and white trim on the hood, halfway zipped up to his chest. He also wore dark yellow jean pants with the inner thighs colored black. He also had a black belt around his waist, with two pouches strapped to his thighs and connected to his belt. He also had a black and yellow one-sleeve backpack containing a staff of sorts, and black combat boots. On his right arm was a golden shoulder and arm guard ending at his forearm, with designs of what appeared to be a beanstalk.

As the three giants shot the boy angry glares as they knew who he was, Arista was shocked as she stared with a gaping mouth and wide eyes at the human standing before the man eating giants in a heroic pose with a smile to match. 'A human!? Here of all places,' She thought in shock and confusion at this turn of events, 'Did he get caught in the beanstalk too and who is he talking to?'

He started to take a deep breath when suddenly a strange sound filled the air getting everyone's attention. "Sorry, just a moment please," the boy said as he reached into his bag, pulled out a rock from his bag, tied a vine around it from the tree, and held the rock to his ear causing the noise in the air to cease, "Hello? I can't talk right now, I'm in the middle of another rescue," he looks at the others, smiles while asking for one minute before going back to the rock phone, "What do you mean that one is taken? But we spent hours- As if anyone is going to know I used their lines here. What copyright? There are no cameras in up here," the boy continued to argue with the rock as the mermaid princess looked perplexed by this while the giants became annoyed.

'What is he doing and who is he talking to,' Arista asked herself as the boy appeared to be arguing with himself while ignoring the situation.

Bloodbottler moved over to Fleshlumpeater to whisper into his ear, "He's talking to the rock again..."

Childchewer joined in on the conversation, "Let's just go before-"

"All right, all right! I won't use the lines," the boy finally gave in to the voice on the phone's demand, "But we need to settle this later on. All right, bye." Puts the rock down. "Now where was I," he said out loud trying to gather his thoughts, "Ah yes. Sorry about that and thank you for waiting. Now mates, we all know how this usually turns out, well except her since she's new here," the boy called out in a brave tone of voice as he addressed the giants, "So I'm giving you one chance to put the young lady down gently or we'll have to go through our daily routine," he continued as he made his request known while making it clear to the giants the details of his request, "What's it going to be?"

Before the giants could respond, a flabbergasted Arista finally found her voice. "Are you shells," she cried out to the boy using a sea term for insane as everyone's attention was now on her, "These monsters are man eating giants! As in they can swallow or stomp the two of us without even trying and you, a human no bigger than their thumb is threatening them!?" Arista stared at the crazy boy waiting for an answer to her question.

"Don't worry miss," the boy said in a British accent and his confident smile, "This is just like on the farm back home. One just has to know how to keep the herd in check. So gents, what's it going to be," he finished waiting for the giants' response. They thought for a moment before running under the tree the boy was standing on. The British boy simply let out a sigh while smiling, "Well... I tried," he said as he grabbed a new vine, and swung towards them.

A lady is crying, a damsel in distress

The boy sang out the same way an opera singer would sing as he swang between two of the giants. He pulled two red fruit from his pockets and threw them at the two giants. The fruits exploded in green puffs of smoke as they stop and cough. The boy flies forward towards Fleshlumpeater as he held the mermaid princess as he lands on the giant's wrist.

Foreboding Giants have made such a mess

The boy pulled two yellow rocks, quickly rubs them together to the point of faint electricity starts to form as he slams them on the Fleshlumpeater's wrist as the sparks went through the hand like a defibrillator. The Giant yelped in pain from the sudden electric shock from the rocks as he lets go of Arista as she begins to fall just as the youth grabs her arm, pulls her up so her waist is around his arm.

What I detect is a lack of respect for all that is precious and dear

He continues to sing care free as he pulls out the staff behind his back. It shouts out a strong green vine into the air and ropes around a stone high up the wall and the two are pulled up with the vine.

I am the bean-sized protector of this lost world~

He continued via song as Arista holds on for dear life as the giants climb up the mountain wall after them. The two reach the stone covered in Jack's vine as they flew up and Jack landed on the ledge while holding Arista.

But my friends call me Jack

The boy now revealed to be named Jack sang as they reach the stone the vine roped around. Fleshlumpeater slams his fist on the stone wall causing it to shake violently and the stone the two teens were on gives way and fall. The two are now falling as Arista is yelling in fear with Jack cartoonishly standing on thin air as he fell and bowing to her in an introducing way, "Jack Stalkman at your service miss."

"HOW CAN YOU BE SINGING AT A TIME LIKE THIS," Arista yelled out in confusion at how calm Jack was being considering their situation as they fell. Fum reached out, caught her, and started to jump back down the mountain wall.

Jack merely smiled as he fell towards another giant, "Simple, it helps remove the tension in the air," he explained, and held his staff forward. From the end of the staff, a huge amount of vines wrapped around it until they formed a mallet shape.

I have a message. Bullies not welcome

As if on cue, Jack whacked the giant in the head, and flung himself towards the bald giant holding Arista. The boy flew through the air and used his vine mallet to whack bald one's hand with enough force to knock down a fully grown boxer.

Return what you've stolen!

Fum cried out as he dropped Arista just as Jack grabbed her and made a leap for the wall again from Thum's hand. As the two flew, Jack pulled out an odd looking make shift knife and jammed it into the wall.

Go back where you came from! Lalalalalalalalalalalala! You know I'm here, so don't be a hater, You're all gigantic, but I am fantastic!

Jack continued his musical number as he jumped from side to side using his knife to slow down his fall and even ran down the wall as if he running down a hill. Arista on the other hand was scared out of her mind as she held on to Jack despite him being a human. The bouncing boy finally jumped into a small hole just as Fleshlumper was about to grab them. But his hand was too big to fit in the cave. He looked inside the cave at the two teens and shot them a death stare and an angry growl as he expected them to start running away.

Arista looked in fear at the monster from her childhood as he tried to get at her and Jack. She looked at Jack with a mix of fear and confusion, "Is there a good reason why we aren't-"

Figaro!

Arista sees Jack let out a triumphant cry that filled the cave and saw him put his free hand to his ear to listen to the echo as it filled the cave. He sighed with a satisfying smile as he looked at a slightly in shock Arista, "I love that echo bit." Before Arista could say anything else, the energetic singer began to march in place as he continued his song.

"Running and climbing, spinning and grinning, ducking, and dodging, diving and sliding, gliding and staying alive," he began to run deeper into the cave while dragging his dagger all around leaving a trail of pebbles with him and the mermaid as they spun around the hole like a skateboarder in a tunnel.

"These are the fewest of the things I do before lunch"

He sang out as he jumped out of the cave not that far from the giants and free fell to the ground from high up. Arista hugged Jack on instinct from falling on high with a panicked expression but Jack just smiled and continued singing,

Death defying! Danger Denying! Look, we're flying!

Soon they landed on a few large leaves that helped lesson the impact of the fall as Jack safely landed on his feet.

"You may think I'm mad, but hey you only live once."

He started to dance with Arista as the giants attempted to grab the two but he kept dodging with each move until he and Arista performed a dip.

No need to thank me. But if you insist, I won't resist.

'What is he doing? No-no-NO! He's too close and-' Arista thought in panic at being this close to a human until she stopped and took notice of Jack, 'He's actually... kind of cute,' he found herself thinking as the looked at Jack's smiling face without a hint of deceit in his eyes. She didn't even notice the three giants with their hands in grabbing reach of the teens.

Suddenly Jack moved again so that Arista was still hugging his stomach while Jack had his free arm on his side as he looked around.

Who smells like fish?

Jacks asked in an accusing tone. The question caused the giants to stop what they were doing and sniff the air. Childchewer even sniffed his armpit. Arista just looked confused as Jack's expression softened and he looked at her with a smile. "Oh it's you. Well, hold on to that shell bikini of yours," he said before lifting her up bridal style and taking a deep breath.

"What do you mean by that-" Arista started to ask while slightly blushing at the mention of her bikini.

Class, DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS-

Jack sang out a high note as the mountain wall began to crumble behind the giants as they panicked and everyone started to run. Jack however continued to hold his note as he ran with the scared Arista at the sight of large boulders covering the three giants and some heading for them. Soon the valley was filled with boulders making look as though no one survived. However out of the rocks, out jumped an injury free Jack and Arista as the boy let out one final high note as if he hadn't stopped during the avalanche.

-SMIIIIIIIIIIIIISSED

As Jack finished his opera performance by song, the dust cleared revealing a mountain sized statue of a grinning Jack in a victorious pose and Arista still being held bridal style with a look of wide eyed panic as she held Jack's shoulders on instinct.

A moment of silence passed as Jack breathed in the smell of victory in the air, "Ahhhh! I remember my first time here as well," Jack said thinking the mermaid was silently panicking from the experience to the point of silence, " Never fear maim, it's a lot to take in but your safe sound," he looked only to see Arista silent with wide eyes as she tried to find her voice. "Hmm, I have to admit you're taking it much better than how most do," Jack said told her as she looked at him as he walked away from the ruble, "Usually they run away screaming until they run smack into a tree."

A few minutes later, the giants began to rise as rubble from the mountain rolled off them, and dirt rising into the air. The first one up was Fleshlumpeater who looked around with an angry glare, "They couldn't gotten-"

"Far?"

Fleshlumpeater and the giants' attention was drawn by the voice to the side of them. Before their eyes, they saw a carefree Jack still holding a silent Arista by her waist while also stretching back a strong vine as a make shift sling shot. "Well it's been fun gents. Same time tomorrow," he asked as he untied the rock that held the slingshot in place, "Toodles," he said as he waved goodbye as he and Arista were shot into the sky out of sight like a javelin at an Olympic game. Leaving the three giants only to glare at their loss once again.

 **In the Air**

As the two teens flew through the air, Jack had a calm smile on his face while Arista was still in silence. Jack took a deep breath and exhaled as he took in the sight, "Nothing beats a good workout like an amazing view. Wouldn't you agree miss," Jack asked as he looked at the girl in his arm. She was still in shock with wide eyes and an expression that said she was still looking for her voice. Suddenly the two began to fall at high speeds as gravity began to pull them down.

Arista suddenly blinked as her mind started to become aware of what was happening. "What? Where," she looked down as saw the ground getting closer and closer faster and faster as the fear appeared on her face, "AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"No worries miss, I do this all the time," Jack assured her as he held his staff out and flicked a switch, "Just hold on tight- GHACK!" The Fifth daughter of Triton hugged Jack as hard as she could just as a giant flower bud popped out of Jack's staff. It suddenly opened up to become a large flower that began to slow their decent towards the forest. As Arista continued to take deep breaths from the experience, Jack's face had tightened as the lack of air became more apparent. "Quite the grip you have miss. Don't worry though, we're almost done-" the flower bud suddenly came off just as the two reached the tops of the trees, and they began to fall faster again.

"How can you stand this EVERYDAY," Arista screamed as they plummeted through the branches. Jack then grabbed a vine and the two began to swing through the trees just as fast as they were falling.

"Not to worry," Jack replied, "The worse is officially-"

"AAAAHHHH," Arista's screams interrupted as she looked a head in horror while pointing a head, "Watch out for the CORAL!"

Jack became confused as he looked in the direction Arista was pointing, "What coral- Oh you mean tree-" Jack replied now understanding what she meant but too late to change direction. The two collided with the strong branch and swung backwards. Jack shook his head to get the impact out of his system, "Well that was a new sensation. Sorry about that Miss, that's the first time that's happened," Jack apologized as he looked to see Arista out cold from the crash. "Oops. Perhaps some rest will do us both some good," he said as he swung again into the forest with the sleeping mermaid in his arm.

Outside the Fairground

Sunday 6am

At Seifer's advice, Eric waited until the early morning when the fairgrounds were empty of witnesses along with getting some extra sleep before going up the beanstalk. In the forest far from the fair entrance, the Seablade Bearer, Iago who was sitting on his shoulder, and Orpet looked towards the entrance to the fair. On the outskirts of the fairground's entrance, groups of people holding signs saying things about preserving Mother Nature, and other things were camping out while the entrance was blocked off by two soldiers standing guard.

"Seifer wasn't kidding," Eric said as he looked at all of the nature activists in front of the entrance to the park, "There's enough here for a small army."

"Makes you wish they were chained to trees elsewhere doesn't it," Iago asked Eric referring to the extreme methods of tree lovers.

"If people were polluting the ocean where I surf, I'd be doing something about it too," Eric said as he made sure his backpack was on tight enough. He looked at Orpet, "Ready Orpet," he asked wanting to make sure his friend was ready. Orpet gave Eric the okay to climb on and laid flat out ground ready for passengers. Eric nodded as he climbed on, "Ready, let's go," he exclaimed as Orpet shot up high in the air out of sight of everyone below, and flew towards the beanstalk.

After making it to just before the vegetable, Orpet began to rise up as fast as he could.

"Ahhhh, Nothing beats letting someone else do the flying for a change," Iago admitted as he laid on Orpet enjoying the ride.

"Enjoy it," Eric said, "Soon we'll be doing a lot of flying if the giants are as fearsome as you said they are," he said being prepared for whatever was up there waiting for them.

"Fearsome is an understatement."

Eric and Iago became surprised at the familiar and muffled voice as they looked around. Suddenly, out of Eric's backpack, a yawning Dax zipped his way out jumped out of the backpack. "Man Eric, you should get a bigger backpack," he said as he got comfortable on Orpet, "I had to leave my supply of clams back at the house."

"Dax? When did you get back," Eric asked his guardian who had been missing the last few days.

"Just before you left your house," a new voice said. Eric and Iago looked to see Sebastian popped out of one of the side pockets, "I saw him climb in your bag as you were getting ready and joined him to find the girls as well mon," Sebastian finished as he stayed in the pouch in fear of falling off the carpet.

"Thanks Sebastian," Eric said, "You too Dax. But do you know what's going on," he asked his friend in case he needed an update.

"Tia Dalma gave me the abridged version," Dax answered, "I would've been back sooner, but Tia was talking with someone for hours when I got there. Don't know who but I didn't see anyone. I didn't even know she had other visitors aside from us," Dax admitted.

"Well don't leave us in suspense Clam Breath. What did the VooDoo lady say," Iago asked impatiently.

"She said 'A land torn by evil will be healed when the soul in need finds the valor he needs, a drifter finds new reasons, and a torn rope is tightened once more,'" Dax answered ignoring the insult as he was tired from the quick swim over.

Everyone looked confused by that prophecy, "What does that even mean," Eric asked as he was coming up with nothing.

"No clue," Dax said in between a yawn, "Sounds like gibberish to me. Wake me when we get there," Dax finished as he started sawing logs.

"That's real helpful mon," Sebastian said in an annoyed tone as they flew up the beanstalk faster and faster to the top.

Eric simply smiled as he shook his head, "It's never that easy," he said before looking back up the beanstalk. He gained a determined look on his face, 'Stay safe Ariel, I'll be there soon,' he thought as Orpet continued to rise up the beanstalk towards a world of new wonders and dangers.

 **Next Chapter: Meeting the Neighbors and the Outcasts**

* * *

 **Sorry for the delay. One of my co-workers kept avoiding their shifts so I had to cover those along with my own. The co-worker is leaving next week though so here's hoping the next one is more responsible. This one was also a tough one because of trying to make the meeting entertaining and not drawn out but also keeping all the details in it. I also want to thank Stone-Man85 for his help with Jack's debut scene. Hope you all enjoyed this new chapter to my first attempt at a story. Happy reading and have a great and safe summer.**


	7. Chapter 7 Meeting the Neighbors

**Chapter 07: Meeting the Neighbors and the Outcasts**

 **Giants Land**  
 **Sunday 7am**

After an hour of flying up the beanstalk, the group rose up through a thick layer of clouds, and finally reached their destination. Orpet floated enough for a full view of the floating edge as Eric, Sebastian, and Iago stared in disbelief at the sight. Before the group was a view that would both amaze and horrify even the most seasoned explorer. The edge of a land that looked as though it had risen up into the air and was kept a float by the clouds below it. Trees that made the trees below look like blades of grass, stone sculptures of angry faces with water falling from the open mouths into the clouds below going across the land, and the beanstalk next to one of the mouths.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh, are we there yet?"

Everyone looked to see a sleepy Dax poke his head out as he scratched his side. After a minute of cold air in his face, Dax's brain woke up as he took in the view, "Oh yeah, we're here."

Orpet flew the group down and floated just a few feet off the ground. Eric stepped off while Iago sat on his shoulder and Sebastian in the outside pocket of his backpack. "Thanks for the lift Orpet," Eric said as he smiled at Orpet who gave him thumps up. He then flew up in the air and divebombed back down to Earth, "See you tomorrow," Eric said as he waved goodbye, "All right, let's find Ariel and Arista," Eric said as he started walking towards the forest.

"Um... Maybe I'll just fly back down with Orpet," Iago started to say as he turned around, "You know, to make sure he makes it back down the beanstalk, and tells everyone you made it."

"Okay... But that means. Treasure. Sebastian and I. Treasure. Get the biggest share if we. Treasure. Find any treasure," Dax said with a sly look on his face saying the one word he knew would work on Iago.

Iago stopped at the sound of one of his favorite words with a look of dread on his face as he groaned as he turned around, "You just had to say that one word," Iago said knowing he couldn't say no to treasure. Especially when it was treasure that was ripe for the taking as Eric walked into the forest with the three critters.

As Eric walked through the forest, he took in the same sight his fiancé took in as searched for signs of her. Only now there were beams of sunlight shining through open areas in the trees. "This is amazing. To think there was a land like this floating right above our heads all this time," he said as he looked up at the trees that looked as though they could touch the clouds, "Everything here makes me feel so... Puny."

"How do you think we feel," Sebastian said as he looked up at the trees as well along with Dax and Iago, "By de way Dax, Iago told us how he knew about this place, but how do you know about it," the crustacean asked in suspicion as Dax knew where they were going when he was away the whole time.

"Tia gave me a crash course on it," Dax told the suspicious crab, "There wasn't really a reason to know about the Giants since they haven't been able to cause trouble since that day and the relics were hidden."

"Dax, something's been bugging me since I heard the story. If all this took place when the Merfolk, Humans, and Atlanteans were living in peace, does that mean there wasn't a Seablade Bearer when the Giants attacked," Eric asked his guardian, "Did the fight happen when there wasn't one?"

"Hey, the story is hundreds maybe thousands of years old," Iago pointed out in his defense, "Some details are bound to be lost! Besides it's not like someone wrote a book about it!"

"There was a Seablade Bearer in that era, one of the first ones in fact," Dax said as he continued to wake himself up, "I didn't catch his name though. Era- something or other, but he only joined the fight during the late periods of the war. He was caught up in a battle with some god on the other side of the Earth when the war started." This new development led to the others becoming shocked by this.

"A god!? You're saying one of my past selves was fighting a god when Giants were attacking the world," Eric asked in shock.

"Eeeh, probably over something stupid like a stolen treasure, or not enough worshippers," Iago squawked as they continued.

"I didn't have time to find out all the details," Dax continued as he did one last stretch, "Tia only gave me the abridged version of the story before sending me out the door. Not even letting me chow down on some clams." He then started looking around, "Maybe if we find a lake, we can look for some," Dax said with high hopes.

Sebastian grabbed Dax by his throat, "How can you think of food at a time like this," the crab asked in a panic, "If we don't find Princess Ariel and Arista before Triton finds out about this, finding food will be the least of your worries! He most likely kill himself a crab and otter for sure!"

Dax pulled Sebastian's claws off his shoulders, "Relax Sebastian. King Triton only knows what goes on in the ocean and he rarely goes to the surface. We'll be back before he knows either of them are gone," Dax told him as he knew the King of the Seas still dislikes the surface despite Eric's actions. Sebastian knew that but still knew his majesty's temper more than anyone. Before Sebastian could respond, Eric came to a stop causing all three critters to lose their balance for a moment. Iago continued to sit on Eric's shoulder while Sebastian and Dax held on to the bag. "Geez Eric, you should give us a heads up before you stop like that," Dax said as he was weak from a lack of food.

"Sorry guys, but we've run into a speed bump," Eric said as he looked up. The others looked up as well to see the road block before them. Before them was a huge tree root rising from the ground and stretching far enough to block off entrance for miles. It was the kind of root that would normally cause someone to trip but it was large enough to stop a monster truck. "Looks like we're climbing. Wish I brought some climbing gear," Eric said as he started to climb up the root as best he could without losing his grip.

Iago on the other hand flew off Eric and maintained flight next to him, "Why not just go super mode and fly through the forest," Iago asked referring to Eric's Master Mode, "We're up the beanstalk already and it would be faster than going on foot."

"It's an option but I'd rather use it for leaving here," Eric replied as he continued to climb, "I still don't know where the girls are, where anything is, or how strong the giants are. If I do transform, it has to be when I find the girls so I can fly us all to safety."

"If you say so. I still say transforming and zooming all over the land would be faster than just walking around blindly," Iago squawked back.

"Well if you feel that way," Dax said with a sneaky expression, "We can always send you since you can fly without powering up. I mean you are pretty small. The giants probably wouldn't even see you but you could also make a good diversion-"

"NO! No diversion! No bird as monster bait," Iago yelled out in fear as he disliked the idea of being bait.

"You said that before at Olette's house," Sebastian reminded Iago with a deadpanned expression. He then began to pant a little bit as he was starting to feel thirsty, "I'm really wishing I had a chance to swim in the ocean before leaving. I haven't had a chance to be wet all day," Sebastian admitted as he was starting to feel dehydrated.

"I know what you mean," Dax said as his stomach began to rumble, "I wanted to grab some clams on my way back but Tia made it clear if I didn't make it in time, she would use me for her voo doo rituals. The last guardian that went through that had all the openings on his face mixed up," he finished as Dax shivered from the memory of it.

Before anyone could respond to Dax's comment, Eric reached the top of the root. He pulled himself up while Iago landed on his shoulder. The four explorers all became silent at the sight before them. They had reached an area with stones all over, parts of the ground dug up, and the mountain side looking as though it had been blown up. But the most nerve whacking sight for the group were the extremely large human shaped foot prints that were buried under stones.

"Oh boy," Iago said breaking the silence in the group, "I'd hate to see whatever did this!"

"Considering where we are, we probably will," Dax replied as he looked at the damage.

"I just hope the girls weren't anywhere near this," Sebastian said in dread.

Eric didn't say anything as he continued to stare at the sight before him. The voices of the critters behind him was toned out as his mind filled with pain. He could feel a sense of dread starting to build with in him as a thought filled his mind. 'Could she be... Could they have... No! She can't be dead! Neither of them can be,' he thought to himself as he found himself consume with the fear of losing the love of his life. Eric however shook his head as he shook his head, 'No! She's alive! I know she is! Both of them,' he thought as he attempted to convince himself of their safety.

"Hey, Thatch."

Eric snapped out of his train of thought at the sound of his name as he looked at Iago who was looking nervous. "Don't let it bug you. You know your girl is more of a fighter than a damsel in distress," he said trying to lift Eric's spirits.

Eric looked at Iago in surprise as he looked at Sebastian and Dax who smiled in agreement, "Thanks Iago," Eric said with a smile, "I do believe she and her sister are safe. But I'll feel a lot better when I see them with my own eyes."

"Yeah well, don't get used to it," Iago replied, "I'm not good at this mushy stuff." This caused Eric and the others to laugh as they continued their way through the forest. Eric continued to journey in the mysterious land. No matter how much ground he covered, he felt as though he had barely left the edge of the land. "How big is this land anyway," Iago yelled out in frustration, "We're here for what feels like an hour and we haven't seen one piece of gold anywhere!"

"Not even a drop of pool or a puddle to swim in," Sebastian said as he was feeling more dehydrated than before.

"Or any sign of Ariel and Arista," Eric said, "Not even of the gia-" he was stopped by Iago.

"Don't finish that sentence Thatch," Iago squawked with a glare on his face, "You so much as say the G-word and one them is going to pop out of nowhere!"

"Oh come on," Dax said over his stomach growling, "As if that were true, than someone would've said 'there will be a pool of water around the next corner' and it will appear out of nowhere!" Just as Eric turned at another corner, he stopped dead in his tracks as he, and the critters stared with open mouths as the sight before them.

Before the group lay a huge lake with the most sparkling water they had ever seen. The water was clear enough to see the bottom of it and the water sparkled as if it was filled with diamonds rather than water. To the side was a large waterfall that filled the lake with more water. Eric, Iago, Dax, and Sebastian were captivated by the beauty of the lake as it sparkled before them.

"Now this is what I'm talking about," Dax said as he leapt out of the bag and headed for the lake. "Come on Sebastian! last one in is a rotten egg," Dax cried out as Sebastian jumped out of Eric's bag. Both of the parched critters headed straight for the water while Eric and Iago remained behind. They both arrived at the shoreline with joyful expressions at the sight of the water. Dax reached out with his hands, brought of handful of sparkling water, and drank it. "It's like drinking the very first source of water in the world," Dax exclaimed as the taste filled him with happiness.

Sebastian jumped into it and began to swim in the water, "I hate to admit it but you're right Dax," he said as he floated on his back, "Not even da King could make the ocean as clean as this,"

"You're not going for a dip Iago," Eric asked him as he walked down to look for signs of Ariel.

"No way," Iago squawked as he turned away, "This place stinks of trouble and there's no way I'm going to fall for something that inviting! Even if the water looks more like diamonds."

Eric grinned as he and Iago looked around for signs of Ariel and Arista. He looked for anything, footprints, dropped items, anything at all to help, but found nothing. "Well no sign of them or anyone else here," he turned towards the pool, "We better move-" He stopped when he saw Dax and Sebastian doing synchronized swimming without a care in the world. "Okay guys, that's great but we should really be," Eric started to say until he saw Sebastian hanging on to Dax's tail like a jet ski on the water.

"Come on, you heard the kid with the big sword," Iago yelled out to get the two sea critters attention, "We have to-" he stopped when he saw Dax spit some water into the air and into Sebastian's mouth, "Don't spit in his mouth!" He and Eric watched in fear as Sebastian spat it back at Dax who caught in his mouth, "Don't spit it back," Iago exclaimed again just as Dax swallowed the water, "Don't sallow it! We don't know what's been in-"

Suddenly the two heard what sounded like thunder, but felt the ground shook with each boom of sound. Eric and Iago looked up in the air for the source but could find nothing, only the sight of branches shaking with each step. "Guys! Something's coming," Eric yelled out as he grabbed the still smiling Dax who was swimming by the shore, "We have to hide now!"

"You heard the teen," Iago squawked as he flew and pulled Sebastian out of the water, "Out of the pool! Now," he continued as he and Eric jumped behind a large rock nearby.

"Eric, I don't know what's in that water, but we have to take some back," Dax said in bliss, "I feel like that water has shown me the answer to the universe. It's-" he is stopped by Iago who covered his mouth.

"Shut your clam hole," Iago said in anger. Suddenly, the sound of thunder became louder every time is filled the air. Finally, from the part of the forest that the rock was facing, Eric and the critters witnessed what was making the sound.

It was a giant. He towered almost fifty feet in height, lean in the muscle department, Caucasian in skin tone. He wore a brown tattered vest and brown tattered pants, all stitched up pieces of leather with a navy anchor rope tied around his waist acting like a belt of sorts. He had a dopey look to his face, as his expression seemed to showcase him spacing out, with large ears as big as an elephant's, and brown messy hair that stuck around unkempt. This giant's title or name was Manhugger; and out of all of them, he was considered the slimmest and tallest among them… as well as the most clueless one there was due to his spaced out face.

The group of explorers stared in both amazement and fear at the giant before them. "Okay, now I really feel puny," Eric said as he watched the giant continue to stare into space. The critters didn't reply as they stared in silence at the giant.

However, the giant began to grab his belt as he undid it. Eric went from amazement and fear to a look of dread at what the giant did next. He began to wiz into the pound that Dax and Sebastian were just swimming in. The eyes of the four followed the stream of pee down to the pool of water. They could only stare in silent dread as the pee continued to fall and the giant moaned from the relief of releasing the pressure from his waist. As much as the four wanted to look away, they couldn't as the giant continued. Sebastian began to gag from disgust at what he just swam in.

Dax hugged himself in fear as he realized what he just had all over his body, "No... No," he whispered in dread.

"Horrible turn of events," Eric said as he looked on at the sight he couldn't un-see, "Just… horrible."

Iago however while still disgusted, was doing his best to hold his breath while having a small grin on his face. Iago's smile only became bigger as Sebastian began to wail at the sight before his eyes. Eric saw this but was drawn away at the sound of two pieces of sand paper rubbing against each other. Only to see Dax using a rock to wash his tongue of the taste of the water he drank. Finally, after a minute of moaning and pee dripping, the giant finished, pulled his armor back up, and smiled in relief.

"Hey! Finish up already, Manhugger!"

Came a loud voice from within the forest getting everyone's attention, "General Fallon wants us back at the castle for when he finishes interrogating the blood haired fish girl!"

This caused Eric to go wide eyed at the description of the girl, "THEY HAVE ARI-" only for Iago to shut his mouth again!

"Shut it or we'll be in the same cage as her," Iago exclaimed as he didn't want to risk being heard.

"I'm coming already, Bloodbottler," the Giant before them said as he turned around and entered the forest.

Once he was gone, Eric ran out from the rock towards where the Giant went. "Come on guys," Eric said, "If we follow him, we can-" Only to stop and see Sebastian and Dax in emotional pain.

"I TAKE IT BACK, YOUR HIGHNESS," Sebastian yelled into the air as he rolled all over the dirt, "YOUR OCEAN IT THE BEST THERE IS!"

"I know what was in it! I know what was in it! I know what WAS IN IT," Dax yelled out as he rolled all over and covered himself in dirt. "Disinfect! Disinfect! Disinfect," Dax continued to say as he licked the dirt to get the taste out.

Iago however finally released the laugh he was holding in, "I told you guys not to go in there," he said between laughs as he slammed his wing on the ground.

Eric looked at them with a deadpanned expression, "I'm sorry for what happened. No one should have to go through that but we have to go after the giant," he said trying to snap them out of it, "Who knows what the giants are doing to Ariel and Arista right now!"

 **Meanwhile**

It was dark when it all came suddenly, but her eyes slowly opened. At first all a blur for her, but it was slowly fading. Arista was sleeping rather comfortably in a bed of warmth, with a few pillows underneath her head, and a white-furred blanket draped on her frame, though didn't cover her shoulder or her head, as she curled up, groaning.

"Mmmm," she moaned out. "Wha… what time is it?"

"Mornin'," a strange voice spoke up as Arista continued to try and sleep. "You've been konked out fer nearly all nightr. I'd already arrived when you was asleepin'. Dreamin' away of home's an all."

Still half asleep, Arista moaned in her sleep, not caring who the new voice belonged to, "It was all just a crazy dream. That's the last time I have sea sponge swirl for dessert close to bed time."

"What youse dreamin' about, child?" the voice spoke again, as loud footsteps echoed in the unknown place, presumably to Arista the Atlantica palace. "Was it the one where youse forgot to study for the big test?"

Arista shook her head in her bed, "Oh no, it was much worse than that. I went to the surface on these horrible legs, followed Ariel to a human festival, got into a fight with her, and ended up in Giants Land. Then we were attacked and..." Though Arista stopped as she shook her head, "Nah, it was just a dream. Or more like a nightmare."

The voice shrugged, "Well… at least yer safer in ere than out there right now. No sense for any bein' being wanderin' and frollockin' around in Giant Country."

Arista suddenly awoke with shock, as her eyes went wide as she blinked to confirm, "Giant Country?" she bolted right up, as she was now wide awake, looking around to where she was.

It looked like a giant cave of sorts, with no water in it at all. There were trees growing out or giant roots, making foundation pillars holding up the place. There were wooden planks or harbor docks being used as shelves or tables, with sails or tents being used as curtains. On one of the tables were various tools, shovels, airplane blades made into knives, various human tools that were normal sized looked to be in place of being kitchenware. The bed Arista slept in… was actually the crow's nest of a ship… that was still attached to it, bobbing in a pool of sorts, and was made into a bed itself. And one of the windows was a glass face of a clock. But the really terrifying sight was where the fireplace was currently heating up a giant cauldron over the fire.

Standing in front of the fire, currently stirring whatever was in the pot… was a giant. He was a Caucasian male, roughly 24 feet in height in his appearance. He was tall, rangy, and imposing at a glance, but wiry in his build, and appeared elderly but not weak in any way. He had gray receding hair that sticked up in the back, with sharp features on his face, with large sideburns going from ear to the lower jaw of his chin. Like the giants Arista had seen, he had huge ears. He was dressed in a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, brown pants that showed off his ankles, with sandal shoes that barely covered his toes, and a brown vest. Though when he turned to face Arista… he had a kind expression on his face with the kindest brown eyes that made her forget the malice in the other giants' eyes.

But the fact remained she was in a giant's home, as she saw him, and let out a high pitched scream. Though the giant did the same, only it was more in startle than fear. Though his died down, as he walked over to her. She scooted backwards until her back hit the crow's nest. As he climbed up, she pleaded, "Go away! Please, please, go away! Please!"

He reached for her with his huge hand, and gently scooped her up, blanket and all. He walked towards the table, all the while Arista was dreading on what would soon happen to her. She wanted to jump down on to the floor and run, but saw she was twenty feet off of it. There was no telling what would happen to her human legs; they would break and she would be forced to crawl out.

Finally, the Giant laid her gently onto the work table, as he walked away from her. She saw him grabbing what appeared to be an airplane propeller blade made into a cleaver. She quickly got up, as she was about to sprint to the window, seeing a clear path and other knickknacks strewn about to help her run up to the window. Until the Giant spoke up.

"No use to be runnin' outside," the Giant replied, causing Arista to freeze in her tracks as she turned around. He gently walked towards her, carrying his cleaver, "It be no use. Not with all of 'em bein' eaters runnin' and sciddlin' around Giant Country."

Before Arista could scream at the cleaver, his other hand came up, and dropped onto the table a car-sized vegetable of sorts. It was green and rigged on its main body, with strange green pustule growths on it. It was almost as if it was a vegetable going through the worst and most disgusting case of acne ever.  
He then brought down the cleaver at the tip of the side he chopped on it. It made the most disgusting cutting sound ever as the top spun around.

Finally, Arista couldn't take it, as she brought her legs up to her chest, and panicked, "P-Please don't eat me!"

Suddenly, she heard a loud yell, as she and the Giant turned to see someone riding a line down to the table. It was the human boy that had saved her, Jack Stalkman, as she remembered the name. He slid to a hault on his heels near a telephone booth made into a pepper shaker. He stretched out, as he sighed, "Aaaah, nothin' like a good giant chase to wake yourself up."

The Giant looked worried but gave a half-smirk, "Youse know better 'han to toy with the other giants, Jack? Youse a hart Snapple, tis true, but one of 'em days, you'll be scarfed down faster 'en a frumpin frie, I's be sayin'."

"Thanks for the concern, but it's fine. Besides, I was doing Fleshlumpeater, and his mates a favor," Jack said as he leaned on his staff, "They needed to let loose some anger after our skirmish the previous night." As Jack chuckled to himself, a through occurred to him. "Which reminds me," Jack said as he looked around, "How's our gues-" Before he could finish, Jack went wide eyed as he felt a pair of shaking hands on his shoulders. "Ahh, she woke up, very good. No reason to be afraid, this is the safest place to be if avoiding being on the menu."

"The safest place?! Are you not seeing what is right in front of us," Arista asked in a panic, "There's a giant right there ready to eat us like the others," as she continue to hide behind Jack's back. She then heard Jack chuckling as if nothing was wrong.

"My apologies maim, I meant to be here before you woke up," Jack explained as stood still, "This giant is a good one. Heck he wouldn't even hurt a fly." Jack then held his chin in thought, "Actually, I don't even think he knows how to hurt a fly. Do you know how to hurt a fly," he asked the giant who looked down at the two teens.

"Yes, I be knowing how," the giant answered the boy's question as he sat down on a chair near the table, "That's how I be knowing not to do the pain doing."

The mermaid princess stopped shaking from fear as she looked at Jack's smiling face, "You mean... He's not going to eat us? But why," she asked in relief and confusion.

"For two reasons, one is the BFG here doesn't have a mean bone in his body," Jack answered in defense of his friend who he revealed to be called BFG, "And two, when giants eat people, it goes straight to their thighs," he said as he pointed to his. Arista and the giant are silent to the point a cricket could be heard, "I'm joking. Actually, it's because he's a vegetarian."

"You're sure," Arista asked in concern as she looked up at the BFG still a little nervous.

"I swear on it maim or my name isn't Jack Stalkman," he answered before looking in another direction while covering the side of his mouth, "As explained in my song in the last chapter."

Arista looked at boy and the giant unsure what to do. She had seen and heard the things that humans had done to the ocean folk for centuries. But Jack did save her life while putting his in danger, plus he wouldn't have brought her back just to serve her to another giant. Finally, if this giant really did want to eat her, he would've while she was asleep, but he didn't. 'Ariel was able to have adventures by getting along with Eric,' Arista thought to herself, "Besides, I can't save Ariel and bring her home on my own." Realizing this, she sighed, walked forward, and took a deep breath. "Thank you. Both of you and I'm sorry for before with all the screaming I did," Arista said as she spoke to both of them, "This is a lot to take in. My name is," she stopped talking when a thought occurred to her. She looked down at her bare legs and feet, the skirt she wore on land, and the hoodie she found on the beach, "The legs are back," she asked herself in confusion.

"Youse name be Legs," BFG asked with a raised eyebrow at Arista's word.

"I've heard crazier names," Jack said completely unfazed, "One time a guy was found here named Joey Jo-Jo Junior Shabadoo. The guy was able to walk away from the giants because they couldn't figure out where a name like that would come from."

"It being the most silent sun phase with no trumping and crashing," the Giant said remembering how he was able to enjoy the peace and quiet for once.

"No. My name is Arista. I'm just wondering how my legs are back," she said clearing up the confusion while still looking at her legs.

"Oh, that was me," Jack answered as he pointed to Arista's wrist. She looked at it and saw the bracelet was back, "I found that during the chase and grabbed it. I figured it was yours so I put it back on."

"That was when youse two legs turned into the fish legs again," the BFG added in, "It was an amazing sight to be beholding. I must say it be surprising to see a fish bean all the way here in Giants Land."

"Thank you for that as well," Arista said as she looked the bracelet again, "I wouldn't even be on land if it wasn't for this." She then looked back at her legs with an uncomfortable expression on her face, "Although to be honest, I don't like these very much. I prefer my tail."

"Well that's a shame because I think they look as good on you as your tail," Jack said as he put his staff which he had been leaning away on his back, "Not to worry though Miss Arista," Jack continued unware that she now had a blush on her face, "We'll have you back on land or in the ocean again as soon as it's night time."

At the sound of Jack's words, she immediately turned around to face him, "Wait, I can't go back yet," Arista said in alarm getting Jack's attention, "My younger sister was captured by the other giants after we came here!"

This caused the BFG and Jack to become alarmed by this new piece of news. "Well then, that does complicate things doesn't it," Jack said as he walked over to the side of the table.

"You mean you're just realizing this now?! You were there before when you saved me," Arista asked in alarm due to finding it odd that he didn't know about Ariel.

"My apologies but I didn't see her," Jack said without turning around as he rummaged through some things, "I was on my way back here last night when I heard the giants yelling about something so I went to check it out. When I got there, I saw you about to be eaten by Fleshlumpeater."

"Fleshelumpeater? What an unpleasent name," Arista said as she shivered from the memory of that giant in particular.

"Yes, he be a very-" the BFG started to say when all three heard a loud banging on the other side of the room.

"RUNT! You in?!"

"It's him," Arista exclaimed as she recognized the voice. She looked to see the BFG looking a little panicked as he got off the chair and moved to the side.

Fleshlumpeater kneeled down at the doorway, as Jack hid Arista with him at the other side of the table out of view, as the giant looked at BFG, growling, "Is you at home, runt?"

BFG stood up straight as he could, putting his hands on his hips, in a failed attempt to look tough, as he sighed, "No."

Fleshlumpeater barged his way in, as he stood inside the house, over towering the BFG and his home. His head barely touching the roof of the house, as he looked down at the 24 foot giant, as he walked towards him, "Youse been jabbling all day, Runt. Ise and the boys can't even get a wink after last night's hunt, and alls you do is jabble like a jabblebox."

"Well, why's can't youse just sleep then," BFG asked.

Fleshlumpeater got into the little giant's face, pushing him near his fireplace, as he spat right out, "BECAUSE YOUSE KEEPS US UP WITH YER JABBLING!" after he had calmed down, the bigger giant then looked away ashamed and more like a child, as he held out his right hand, showcasing a splinter that Jack had given him, "And I has a boo-boo."

Arista arched an eyebrow at this, and looked to Jack for answers, who sheepishly shrugged and smiled at his handiwork.

BFG leaned on the fireplace, as he shrugged it off, "Ah, later. Yer a big boy; you handle yer own boo-boos."

However, Fleshlumpeater wasn't taking it well, as he stomped around the house, shaking it and all inside, as he roared out, "NOW, RUNT!"

Finally, BFG was convinced, and stopped him, "Alright, alright." And then walked over to the fireplace to pick up his cauldron of water, as he brought it over to the bigger giant, "Jus let me get some water fer that."

But Fleshlumpeater backed away, as BFG came at him with the water, "No, no, no. No's water, Runt."

But what the bigger dumber giant didn't know was that BFG was luring him or steering him away from the sight of the two teens, as they moved from the bottle of throbscottle to the snozzcumber. Once BFG got a sponge and a bandage cloth to treat him, they stopped as Fleshlumpeater reluctantly allowed the runt to clean his 'boo-boo'. However, Fleshlumpeater got a whiff in the air, catching a very familiar scent, as Jack knew what this was, which prompted Arista's curiosity on his reaction.

Fleshlumpeater looked at BFG, as he asked, "Has that boy bein' been around lately?"

BFG nearly went white as a ghost, as he shook his head, "No. Youse know better he'd be smarter than to be with a giant all day."

"Then why's do I smells a…" the bigger giant began, and then looked to BFG suspiciously, as he interrogated, "Has you brought in a new little betty boo?"

Arista nearly gasped until Jack muffled her mouth with his hand, as he looked around for a good hiding spot… until he spotted the snozzcumber. 'Oh, I'm going to regret this in the forenoon,' he thought to himself as he stuffed Arista and himself into the snozzcumber. Both teens could feel the slimy juices run all over them as they were now face to face with their bodies pressing against each other. It felt  
as if they were at a party that was overcrowded to the point they couldn't move and had pop dumped all over them making them feel sticky.

"Sorry," Jack said with a weak smile, "But the other giants hate these things. Fleshlumpeater won't even pay attention to this," Arista's silence made him keep silent as he could tell she was very scared and stressed. He looked away to see if he and Arista needed to move at a moment's notice and to hide his blush at having a girl this close to him along with feeling her breast on his chest. 'Well... This is certainly a new experience for me,' he thought to himself as he felt scared mermaid's heartbeat on his chest, 'She must be more terrified than I thought.'

Arista didn't say anything as she had too much on her mind. Not only was she in the same room as the one that almost ate her, but she was now stuck in a smelly fruit with a human. 'I leave for home for less than a day and now I'm stuck in this smelly thing with a... a,' she started to think in frustration and fear until she looked at Jack's face again. She found herself unable to break her gaze at his face and felt a hot feeling in her cheeks. She could also feel Jack's chest and the feeling of his heart somehow made her feel safe, 'You know, if he had a merman tail, he would be kind of cute,' she thought to herself in slight peace until she snapped back to her senses and turned her head away. 'What am I thinking,' Arista thought in alarm, 'I'm thinking like Ariel!?' Before either teen could think of anything else, the sound of loud steps broke them out of their love filled thinking.

"Wh-Whyz don't you just go huntin' for other bein's around," the BFG stated. "Is mean there must be some scuttlin' around for ya?"

Fleshlumpeater stopped, as he turned around, "Aye, wes spotted one out of two betty boos that came up. A Sun-haired one, and a blood-haired one. Wes got the bloodhaired one." Arista went wide eye at that, knowing full well he meant Ariel, and fearing Ariel was eaten already. "But Lord Fallon wants her alive. Says she might knows the way down again to Bein' World."

BFG took that into consideration too, as he asked, "So he's keepin' her alive?"

Fleshlumpeater shrugged, "Fer now." He then turned his attention to the bottle of throbscottle, and then grabbed it, "Ise taken this." He then stomped out of there, as he grabbed the door once he was outside, and glared at BFG, "You and yer veggie-tables… you, is an insult to giants everywhere." And rolled the door back, and was gone from sight.

The BFG stood there for a moment with a slightly hurt from his words but then remembers the teens. "Jack? Arista? Arse youse two bein all fine," he asks in concern. Only to hear the sound of sloshing coming from the table. He looks to see Jack and Arista pulling themselves out of the snozzcumber and covered in snozzcumber juice.

Jack picked himself up and shivered in slight disgust, "Bleech! Ten years here and I still can't get used to snozzcumbers," he said as he shook the juice off his hands.

"Ewwwww, I can't believe I'm saying this but I'll take being dry over this," Arista said as she laid on her hands and knees and shook her head from the feeling. She looked up to see Jack holding his hand out to help her up. On instinct, Arista took the hand, and was helped up onto her slime covered feet. "Thank you," she said as started to wipe the juice off of her.

"Okay, our house guest wasn't pleasant but we now know where your sister is," Jack said as he put the cloth to the side, "So that's a plus."

"We do," Arista asked in confusion and alarm as she continued to wipe off the juice, "All he said was someone named Fallon wanted my sister alive. He didn't say where she was."

"Since youse sister was Gunzleswiped by the giants and is seeing Fallon," the BFG spoke getting Arista's attention, "She be taken to Fallon's castle. It a Hornswoggle of a place where the giants gather for eating and loud speaking," the BFG said as he shook from the mere memory of it.

"So as long as Ariel doesn't talk," Arista said with new hope, "She won't be eaten right?"

"Most likely," Jack replied but gained a confused expression as he held his chin in thought, "What boggles my mind is what would give the giants the idea that you or Ariel know of a way down to Earth. I mean the only way is through random dream portals at night."

"Dream portals," Arista asked in confusion, "But Ariel and I were brought here by a-"

"YOUR BRA IS CLEARLY ON TOO TIGHT! PLEASE ALLOW ME THE HONOR OF ADJUSTING IT FOR YOU!"

Arista turned her head in alarm by the loud voice to see a flash of white heading towards her. Only for the flash to slam face first into Jack's staff which he put in front of the confused princess.

"Please Chamo, she's a guest here," Jack said as he grabbed the white creature by his neck.

"I deeply apologize. I just became so excited and forgot my manners," a voice was heard coming from the white thing Jack was holding.

"Uh Jack... Who or what is that," Arista asked as she tried to see what had just attacked her.

Jack turned around holding the creature. Arista saw that it was an ermine with fur as white as snow. He had black eyes and a black patch of fur at the end of his tail. He currently had a weak smile on his face as if he was in a daze.

"This is Chamo, my partner, friend, and guardian. He keeps an eye out for more flowers and fruits for my arsenal," Jack explained to Arista as he kept his grip on him, "I must apologize for him. He's adores women which are rare in Giants Land and tends to lose it when he sees one."

"I see... And why did he want to adjust my bra strap," Arista asked as she held her chest in defense.

"My apologies miss," Chamo said as he bowed his head in shame, "I saw you were in great distress and assumed that you were in pain from your bra being too tight. I thought I would adjust it just right so it wouldn't hurt anymore."

"Is that so," Arista said as she took in Chamo's response, "Well thank you, but that's not my problem. What I am is just really sticky."

"Ah you tried the snozzcumber," Chamo said, "Horrible vegetable even though it's the only thing these two can eat that isn't meat."

Arista raised an eyebrow at this new piece of information, "You two don't meat too," Arista asked in surprise.

"Nope, we're vegetarians," Jack told her, "The only ones here in Giants Land. For now, how about we get you cleaned up," Jack said as he led her to the other side of the table. There she saw a dirty white sink just a jump away from the table.

Jack led Arista to a faucet with a shower setup on it. It had a shower curtain framed in a circle, as he opened it; the curtain was tight enough to snap back in place, as he looked to Arista, "You can step in here to wash off." He then pointed to a small faucet setup with a red button and a blue button set up as faucet handles, "Red one's for hot water, blue's for cold. You should be able to adjust them with no problem."

Arista stepped in, as she looked to him, nodded, "Um, thank you." Jack nodded, as the curtain snapped back, closing up and hiding Arista from plain sight, with only the faucet head to shade her.

A few seconds later, Jack turned to hear her again, "Um, here you go. Hold on to these for me?"

The curtain opened slightly as Arista's hand stuck out, with only her seashell bikini, skirt, and her hairband in hand. Jack blushed a little, but snapped out of it, as he took them, "Sure, no problem."

But she asked, merely for him to be certain about one thing, "And…?"

Jack sighed, knowing full well what she was talking about, "I'll make sure Chamo doesn't get into these," Jack said, "I'll also leave you some clothing we have for you to use."

Arista smiled behind the curtain, as she pulled her hand back in, "Thanks."

Arista looked to the knobs, and then turned on the water as Jack had showed her. The hot water streamed down upon her, as she nearly gasped, as she felt it run all over her body. She sighed in bliss as the hot water ran over her body. But then she remembered on how Jack and the BFG had been treating her. She frowned slightly as she sighed, 'Jack… this giant… they're not at all what I thouth they were. Or what Father described them as when I was little.' but she shook her head, knowing full well that this wasn't the case for now. For now, she knew that Ariel was alright, but needed to be saved as soon as she could.

She pulled her hair back, looking rather beautiful with her hair wet, as she sighed, "Right now, I have to do all I can to help Ariel."

A while later after drying off, Arista left returned to the others fully dressed. She had her hair the way it was before, but she was now wearing a red jacket with a white t shift underneath, a pair of blue jeans like before, and a pair of red sandals.

The three looked at Arista who just stood there. "Looks good kid," Chamo said as he stood on Jack's shoulder, "Even though the BFG only found bits and pieces here and there, what you picked looks good."

"Chamo's right," Jack joined in as he blushed a little bit, "It will be easy to move around in that while keeping warm," he then turned his head to the BFG, "Right BFG?" Jack saw that the BFG had a look of indifference on his face as he kept silent but tried to smile.

"Thank you," Arista said as she blushed a little from the compliment, "So how do I find Fallon's Castle."

"It be an hour on foot for a giant," BFG said as he picked up a brown bag filled with jars, a golden-brown trumpet, and a butterfly net, "Longer if you be beans."

"And there's no I in team miss," Chamo added.

"You mean... You'll help me," Arista asked in surprise, "I can't ask you to do that though. You've already helped me so much and the BFG will be attacked if he goes near the other giants."

"It would be quite shameful if we did nothing while someone was in need," Jack replied. He then turned to the BFG, "but she right BFG, you'll be bullied again if you come with us."

"I won't be going near the other giants," the BFG answered, "I be taken youse close enough to the castle to take the dark path inside and wait for youse in the outwide."

"Besides, you'll need a set of guides of the land," Chamo added.

Arista smiled at all of them willing to help, "Thank you, all of you."

"Right," Jack said as he collected his things, "Let's get going," he said as he held his staff confidentially and swung his blade into his pocket.

With that, the BFG picked them off with Arista sitting on his left shoulder, and Jack and Chamo on his right. He slid the door open to reveal a beautiful green field with small hills and two large mountains forming a bridge with the sun shining down. The group enjoyed the view as the BFG started to make his way towards their destination... General Fallon's Castle.

Meanwhile

Back in the forest, Eric was running as fast as he could with Iago flying after him, and Dax and Sebastian ridding the backpack who were looking a sickly green.

"Easy mon! Slow down," Sebastian exclaimed as he hung on, "Dax and I feel sick as if it. We don't need to get motion sick too!"

"I can't! The giants have Ariel and that giant knows where she is," Eric exclaimed as he continued sprinting at top speed towards a bright light in front of them, "If I slow down, we could lose him, and have no idea where to go next." Just then, Eric jumped out of an opening in the forest with Iago still following after him. He landed on his feet and saw the sight before them. It was plains of green as far as the eye could see. There were slabs of stones poking out here and there and large ridges that could be mistaken for mountains as they pierced through the clouds.

"Geez. Just as endless as the deserts of Agrabah," Iago exclaimed as he landed on Eric's shoulder, "Yet there's no sign of the giants! No surprise considering a step for them is probably a mile or two on foot."

"There's not even a foot print to follow," Eric sadly said as he looked for anything to follow as Sebastian looked as well.

"How can something so huge not leave fin- I mean footprints," Sebastian asked due to it seeming to be impossible, "Come on Dax, you and Iago are de giant experts," he asked as he looked at Dax, "How could- What are you doing?" Sebastian saw that Dax was back in the bag still looking a little green.

"Give me a sec... I starting to feel sick again," Dax replied as he laid at the bottom of the bag. Only for Sebastian to jump on his face in a panic.

"This is not de time to be sick! I'm still disgusted by our swim," Sebastian admitted to Dax as he tried to snap the otter out of it, "But this isn't the time to be- OOFFFF!" The next thing Dax and Sebastian knew, they were being pushed together from both end like the contents of a sandwich being squished together.

"This is not helping," Dax replied in a sickly voice.

Outside the bag, Eric cold feel the grip of hands on his chest and a pressure on his back while Iago flew off Eric to avoid whatever was attacking him. "What the," he asked as he turned his head to see who was grabbing him. 'Maybe it's Ariel or Arista,' he thought only to see a scared Pacifica hugging him tightly with the side of her head on his back.

"Oh finally," she wailed as she kept her eyes shut from fear, "Someone who can't step on me in this weird place! " She opened her eyes and looked up to see a confused Eric. "Eric? You're here too," she exclaimed as she backed away from Eric.

"Pacifica? What are you doing here," Eric asked her as she was the last person she was expecting to see in Giant's Land.

"I have no idea. One minute I'm at the festival looking my best," she explained as she looked around for more of the giants, "and the next thing I know, I'm in this crazy movie set where the giant monsters are real! What about you?"

"I'm here looking for Ariel," Eric explained to her as Iago landed on his shoulder, "She was caught in the beanstalk that grew in the fairgrounds and was sent here too. I also overheard some giants say that she's-" Before he could continue his explanation Eric is stopped when Pacifica held up her hand telling him to stop.

"Okay I get it. This is some crazy prank you, Ariel, and that crazy fortune teller are pulling on me," Pacifica said in an annoyed tone of voice towards the confused Eric, "You expect me to believe that your girlfriend and I were sent here by a magic vegetable that just magically grew in the middle of the fairgrounds? What you ran out of mermaid stories to feed Ariel so you trying something else now?"

"Listen lady. Around this guy, crazy stuff like this happens on a daily basis," Iago replied to Pacifica's comment, "The sooner you accept it, the sooner you this will all be easier to accept."

Pacifica scoffed at the idea as she placed a hand on her hip, "Oh sure, like I'm going to take advice from a," her annoyed tone of voice faded into silent surprise as she looked at Iago with wide eyes. "Did that parrot just say a full sentence," she asked as she pointed at it with her finger.

"Yeah, I talk toots," Iago squawked back at the stunned girl, "You got a problem with that?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," Pacifica responded with a glare, "First I'm hiding behind trees the size of skyscrapers from giant parade balloons with teeth and now I'm talking to a bird that knows full English! Next thing you'll know, I'll find out that there are talking cars in Port Royal!"

'Even that sounds too far-fetched for my life. Even if it does sound kind of cool,' Eric thought to himself as Pacifica and Iago continued to glare daggers at each other. "The beanstalk grew yesterday Pacifica. Are you sure you haven't seen anyone else since then," Eric asked her wanting to make sure there was no one else in danger.

"Unless anyone else means anyone that can't crush me like a grape, then no," Pacifica answered in an annoyed tone of voice, "Now can you tell me how to get out of this crazy dream or do I have to give Polly here a cracker?"

Eric went wide eyed as he could feel a sharp pain in his shoulder. It was Iago as his claws dug deep into Eric's shoulder as pulled his feathers up on his wings as if they were sleeves. "That's it lady," Iago exclaimed in anger at being said the one thing that made his blood boil like lava, "I dare you to say that again unless you'd rather have something really bad happen to you!" He and Pacifica glared at each other as static sparked between them.

"Hang on you two," Eric said trying to remain the neutral one of the conflict, "We've gotten off to a bad start, but I'm sure you two can get along without the need of violence."

"I say they do! I love violence!"

Eric, Pacifica, and Iago became confused by the sound of the new booming voice. They slowly looked up towards the source of the new voice as a large shadow covered the two teens and bird from above them. It was another giant like the one that Eric saw, only this one was bald, and had five o; clock shadow. He had a strong body builder body shape, wore a number of necklaces covered in bobbles and junk from Earth, and wore a brown and white leather kilt covered in armor and junk that went past his knees. This was Bonecruncher, one of Fleshlumpeather's gang.

"Well look what we be having here. Another couple of beans. All for the taking." He reached out towards the two. Only for Pacifica's delayed scream of terror to sound out into the air. Bonecruncher backed away and covered his ears, "The girly beans are louder then I remember," he said.

Taking the opportunity, Eric and Pacifica made a break for it with Iago flying after them. "I knew this was going to happen! I'm going to be eaten! My days of hunting for riches are THROUGH," Iago yelled out as flew as fast as he could.

After a few moments of holding his ears, Bonecruncher started chasing after the teens, "Hey! Get back here you beans! I'm hungry," he yelled as he ran after them.

As the giant chased after them, Eric tried to come up with a plan. 'This giant might know where Ariel is... If I can trick him into thinking he lost us, he might return to the castle, and I can follow him back. But I can't bring Pacifica with me,' Eric thought to himself, 'She wouldn't stand a chance here and I still need to find Arista. That leaves me with only one option,' Eric thought to himself as he knew what he would have to do."Iago! Lead Pacifica back to the beanstalk so she can climb down," Eric yelled out to his flying companion, "I'll hold off the giant as long as you can!"

"Did you lose a few brain cells from your fight with the Mandarin?! That guy is ten times your size," Iago yelled as he flew near Eric, "How are you going to beat him!?"

"I don't have to beat him," Eric replied as he summoned the Seablade into his hand, "I just have to buy you some time! I'll catch up as soon as I lose him!"

Iago just groaned at the sound of Eric's plans, "I had to join up with crazy people... All right Thatch, I'm on it," he replied as he flew a head to the forest where Pacifica was running towards, "Just keep an eye out for gold if you're captured and we'll call it even!"

Eric nodded even though he had no intention of being caught. He stopped running and turned around to face the giant ready for battle. Iago flew into the forest looking for Pacifica, "Just great! He gives me the hard job of keeping an eye on that insulting little-" The next thing Iago knew, he was swatted to the side and slammed into a tree head first. The little bird fell down, hit the ground, and was left in a daze.

Meanwhile, Eric stood his ground as Bonecruncher charged at him. "Ha! Beans have gotten braver or dumber since the battle days," Bonecruncher exclaimed as he started to reach his hand out to grab Eric. However, Eric held his sword as it began to glow its signature blue color along with the jewel in the Fist of Zeus. He then spun himself around in a circle and sent a powerful blue wave of energy from his sword at the giant exploding on contact into a wave of water. The now wet giant backed from the impact on instinct, "AAAAAHHHHH! Wet! Clean water," Bonecruncher exclaimed in disgust, "How did that bean do that?!"

'He doesn't like water? I better keep my distance for more than just ending up a snack,' Eric thought to himself as he charged his sword with another attack. The giant charged at him only to get hit again by blast, but this time he kept charging through it. Eric swung his sword to create a gust of wind that blew him across the ground escaping the giant's hands.

Bonecruncher shivered at the feeling of more water on him, "I hate clean making water. But I love violence a lot more," he exclaimed as he got on his feet ready to attack again. He then pulled out a huge metal club covered in wires and spikes, "Especially when it's me that doing the violence making," he yelled out as he slammed his club on the ground. The impact caused the ground to shake and a tidal wave of Earth and rock to explode from the impact point towards Eric.

"Oh man," Eric exclaimed as he did another air boost to escape the wave, "That's one wave I don't think even I could hang ten on," he said as he looked behind him. He saw the wave of dirt and stones was still following him. With one last swing of his sword, Eric created a burst of wind powerful enough to shoot himself out of the way of the Earth wave just as it collapsed on the ground. Eric however ended up rolling on the ground from the burst of speed until he finally slowed down. The next thing Eric knew, he was caught in the grip of Bonecruncher's hand. Eric struggled in vain to move but the giant was too strong.

Bonecruncher stared at Eric with an evil and hungry looking smile on his face. "The General already has the blood haired bean and there's the sun haired one out there," he said as some drool leaked out of the giant's mouth, "He won't miss one little bean!" The mention of Ariel in danger filled Eric with desperation to save his future wife as he struggled to escape the grip. Even to the point of ignoring the foul smell of the Giant's body odor and breath. "Just give up little bean," Bonecruncher said as he lifted Eric up ready to drop him into his mouth, "Nobody likes a sorry loser." The giant released his grip on Eric and let him drop down to his mouth.

"Sorry, but I'm not on the menu," Eric yelled out as he swung his sword creating an updraft that lifted him high into the air away from the mouth. As he flew, he didn't notice the jewel in the Fist of Zeus begin to glow.

"Come back down here you flying sky person," Bonecruncher called out while swinging his club around, "I be caughting you fair and squarey!" Then he started to pick boulders on the ground and threw it as if it were base balls.

Seeing them coming, Eric created another gust of wind to move out of the way in time to land on another boulder. He then leaped off the boulder out of the way of another boulder as he fell down towards the giant again. 'If I don't do something,' Eric thought to himself, 'I'll be right back where I start-' "Whoa," he exclaimed as he suddenly felt himself quickly moving quickly to the side as if he was skating. "How did I do that," Eric asked himself as he looked down. He saw his feet were now covered in water as if they were made of water, "What the," he said as he noticed the jewel glowing on his gauntlet, "Is this a new power?" Before he could figure it out, he noticed more boulders were heading towards him. As if on instinct, he moved out of the way as if he was skating ice or gliding on the water. He smiled at this new skill, "Now this is cool. It's not surfing but I can get used to this," he said to himself as he continued to dodge boulders and cut others in half.

'This isn't getting me anywhere,' he thought to himself as he tried to think of something, 'I have to find a way to knock him out so I can hide and follow him to where Ariel is being kept.' He then noticed a large mountain of Earth that resembled a wave of water. It was taller than the giant and seeing it gave boy an idea. "You want to eat me," he yelled out at the giant, "Then come and get me," he finished as he glided on streams of water that formed under his feet.

Bonecruncher stopped throwing boulders, picked up his club, and ran after flying boy. "Get back here and into my mouth," he yelled out as he swung his club around wildly. As he chased after Eric, neither of them noticed a shadow on the ground that was moving towards the same mountain they were heading towards.

"Sorry I wasn't able to drop you two off," Eric told Dax and Sebastian who were still in his bag, "Are you two doing okay in there?"

"Just keep us out of that monster's mouth and I'll be fine," Sebastian muffled voice answered as he hung on to the inside of the bag for dear life. Dax didn't reply due to him holding in the need to barf from all that he had been through today.

As soon as Eric reached the mountain, he grabbed the side of the mountain with one hand as he held on to the Seablade with the other. He was Bonecruncher continue to charge at him at full speed with the thought of eating him all over his face. 'Wait for it... Wait for it,' Eric thought to himself as the distance between him and the giant grew smaller by the minute. Just as the giant was less than a mile from him, Eric performed a powerful swipe with his sword, and created a burst of wind that shot him high into the air.

Bonecruncher saw this as he looked up, only to collide with the mountain Eric led him too. The collision caused the mountain to collapse all over the giant leaving him buried under the rubble with only his hand with his club sticking out of the stones. Eric began to glide down with his water shoes towards the ground. 'All right, now I just have to hide and wait until he wakes up to see I'm gone,' Eric thought to himself as he was halfway down to the ground, 'Then I'll meet up with Iago and he and I can-' "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Suddenly, Eric's body was charged with another ball of energy as his body tensed up with a familiar pain as he fell towards the ground like a stone. 'I can't move,' he thought as the same pain from before went through him, 'This is just yesterday,' he thought as he landed on the ground with a thump. The impact caused his body to leap off the ground a little bit but with enough force that caused him to flip over. His book bag flew off him and landed away from the now paralyzed boy as he laid there. The Seablade turned back into water, the light in the jewel of Eric's gauntlet faded, and his water shoes returned to normal.

In the bag, Dax and Sebastian slowly got over the pain of their fall with Sebastian on his back, and Dax feeling sick from swallowing his vomit from the sudden impact. "What happened," Sebastian asked as he tried to right himself up.

"Don't know," Dax said as the green on his face was as strong as ever, "But I bet Eric is worse off than we are," he said as he reached for the zipper. Both critters looked out of the opening to see Eric on his back with his fingers were stuck in a curled position, his knees were up, and a struggling look on his face. "What is he doing," Dax asked as Sebastian crawled on his head to look.

"GUYS!"

Before Sebastian could answer though, they looked up in the direction of the voice. It was Iago who was flying over to them, "Guys, we have a problem," Iago said as he rubbed his head from the impact before, "Oooooh... I haven't felt a pain in my head this bad since that time Mozenrath tested that potion on me." The next thing Iago knew, he was pulled into the bag by Dax as it ruffled from the movement inside. "What's your probl- MMppphhhh," Iago's beak was muffled shut as Dax and Sebastian looked out of the opening of the bag. Iago looked as saw something that made him go as white as a sheet the same way Daxter and Sebastian at the moment.

Over at the former mountain, Bonecruncher was rising from the rubble. He rubbed the top of his head that had hit the ground to get over the pain. "The General would punish me for falling for such an old trick," he cursed to himself as he got up. But as he did, he saw Eric laying on the ground, and unable to move. This caused him to laugh in victory as he got up and walked over to Eric. He now stood over Eric as he got on his knees, "No escape this time little bean," he said with an evil like tone as he reached over to Eric who still couldn't move. He grabbed him again and began to move him towards his mouth to eat him. Just as he was a few inches from his mouth...

"Stop!"

Bonecrusher looked up to see the source of the voice. It was Pacifica as she walked over towards him and Eric. This caused Bonecrusher to laugh as he back to his feet. "Brave or foolish little bean you are," he said as he walked over and reached over to grab her too. "You should've kept running when you-"

"I said," Pacifica spoke again, in a commanding voice, "Stop." Just as she finished talking, the giant's hand stopped just around her as he struggled to grab her. She now had a smug smile on her face as she watched a struggling Bonecruncher attempt to grab her but found he couldn't. It was as if hundreds of chains were wrapped around his hand stopping his movement. If Eric could turn his head, he would look in shock at the scene before him.

"How did you- Wait," Bonecruncher exclaimed as he continued to grab the girl, "I know this feeling... From long ago... But HOW!"

"I'll tell you all about it," Pacifica said as she traced her hands on Bonecrusher's hand, "But first... As the humans would put it... Take me to your leader," she said as chuckled evilly at her accomplishment.

 **Next Chapter: Truths and Answers, The Mastermind is Revealed**

* * *

 **I am so sorry for the huge delay. Work became busier with my co-worker leaving, hours changing, and people taking vacations. First off, I want to thank Stone-Man85 for help with the BFG talking, and other scenes. This chapter wouldn't be out until next year if it wasn't for him. Now things are set in motion, Arista is learning the way of the Ariel, Eric has been captured by the giants, and Pacifica is revealed to be secretly evil. Things are getting crazy in Giants Land. Also about Eric's new power, think of his water shoes as him skating on the water molecules in the air. He was able to do it here because Giant's Land is basically on giant cloud so there's more water in the air from being evaporated from the Earth below. Finally, I made some changes to the previous chapter, namely the fight scene. Thank you for your patience and I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Till next time which I hope is sooner this time.**


	8. Chapter 8 Truths and Answers

**Chapter 8: Truth and Answers; The Mastermind Revealed**

As Bonecruncher carried a paralyzed Eric under the orders of Pacifica, the BFG made his way towards the castle. Jack was sitting on BFG's left shoulder keeping an eye out for trouble with Chamo sitting on Jack's shoulder and was Arista was sitting in the BFG's shirt pocket. She found herself looking down the whole time. She saw the distance between her and the ground along with the BFG's feet as he walked.

The land was wide open like the ocean but everything was different from the ocean. While the sea floor was normally covered in sand, the ocean floor being rock, different colored coral, and sea plants growing. The land before her covered in fields of green grass, trees as high as the sky, and different kinds of plants decorated with pedals.

'You know, despite the large number of giants that consider merfolk and humans, this place isn't so bad,' Arista thought to herself, 'I could still do without having to use legs though,' she continued as the thought of legs still made her feel uneasy.

As Arista continued to look at the land, Jack continued to look ahead and behind him for signs of the other giants. 'No stomp marks, no flying boulders, and no torn-out trees,' Jack thought to himself as he analyzed the land before him, 'They really think there's a way down this time. Like the last hundred times...'

"By the way, um..." Arista asked, gulping from nervousness, as she looked up at Jack getting his attention, "Exactly... how many giants are there?"

Jack kept his eyes up front, but answered her directly, "Well, so far there are the ten major generals, but as to the number of giants... somewhere around 400."

"And each one's is like fighting a single army," the BFG replied. "Each giant's as powerful and durbably as a southand men n' them iron beasts that fire fire and metal."

"Uhh, Mate," Chamo said getting BFG's attention, "I don't think that's helping," he said as he darted his eyes towards Arista. The BFG looked to see a nervous Arista taking all that in. Even though she didn't say anything, anyone who saw her face could tell she was feeling the fear of her childhood go through her.

"Oh... Sorry Miss," the BFG said not wanting to scare Arista further.

"No, no. I'm the one who asked," she said, "I just didn't think there were so many of them."

"I thought the same thing when he told me," Jack told her, "But most of them act the same so they're easy to deal with if one is fully prepared." He continued to survey the area.

"Nehehhehehehe," Chamo chuckled.

Jack turned to look at Chamo, unamused, as he asked, "What?"

"Watcha think of Arista, Romeo," Chamo smirked, "Bet you wish you were surveying her instead of the land right?"

"What do you mean," Jack rpelied. "She seems pretty nervous at the moment being here. But I gotta admit, she's pretty brave to go after her sister."

"Well, yeah that. But I'm talking about her bod," Chamo replied as his eyes dazzled. "Those dazzlin' blue eyes, that gorgeous golden yellow hair that flows like silk and water. Not to mention those B-Cup pillows on that ribcage, that slim trimmed waist, flawless skin you could lick all over and taste of tasty saltwater, and those long flawless legs leading to those ticklish feet, and those small hands..."

"Okay, what are you getting at," Jack arched an eyebrow.

Chamo took a drag of a chocolate cigar, as he smirked, "You are sooo getting the hots for this mermaid."

Jack blushed, "Wait, what?!"

"Not to mention that she has a really nice tail," Chamo added while winking at him in order to see how his partner would react to that comment.

"I think you're a little too excited from seeing someone new here, especially when said person is a girl," Jack told his guardian, "I just met her and we've barely-"

"We be here nowing."

The BFG's words got the group's attention as Arista looked down along with the others at the sight below. Nestled in the middle of a mass of land held up by chains and bridges, stood a castle of sorts. It looked like a number of different sized cylinders stacked next to each other. It sat in the middle of a large hole surrounded by more floating islands, some with grand waterfalls falling through the gaps of land onto the clouds below. In different places in the valley were more angry mouths carved into the side of the floating land masses. One in particular was right next to the castle as though it was a part of it.

"That's the Giants' castle," Arista asked with a shocked voice. She was so used to her home in Atlantica that seeing a castle look so decrepit was a shock to her, let alone the fact that people lived there.

"That be it," the BFG replied as he looked at the castle in sadness, "It was once much granderer centuries ago. Back when all the giants were being nice like..."

Before Arista could ask him more about what he said, the sounds of grumbling voices and loud footsteps caught their attention.

"Uh oh," Chamo said as he spotted three giants on the same land mass as the giants were heading past Jack's group.

"Now what do we- Whoa," Arista began to ask before the BFG took her out of his pocket and put her on the ground while Jack and Chamo jumped off and landed next to her.

"You three should being going," the BFG told them, "Find the sister and escaping before Fallon finds out."

"You know how much I hate this strategy of yours," Jack told the BFG as he hated leaving any friend behind.

"Consider it extra reasoning to move faster," the BFG told him as he gave him and the others his usual warm smile saying it will be all right.

Arista however looked confused as she looked at the two, "I'm lost. What is he-"

"Well look who we have here!"

The sound of one of the giant's voice mixed with laughing the grew louder with each thundering step. The BFG's facial expression was telling them to go which Jack and Chamo understood. Using his staff, Jack shot a vine out that wrapped around a stone and formed a strong knot as Chamo jumped onto Jack's shoulder. Then Jack walked over to Arista, "Time to go Arista," he told her as she wrapped his arm around her lower back and headed for the cliff. "Hold on," he told her.

Arista looked down at the cliff and back at Jack in shock, "Wait! You're not actually-" The next thing she knew, she felt a sense of weightlessness as the three quickly slide down the vine. "Not AGAAAAAAIIIIIINNN," she yelled as she wrapped her arms around Jack's shoulders on instinct. It wasn't as bad as before, but she still wasn't use to the laws of physics on the surface. She was so distracted by the feeling of falling that she didn't notice Jack's blush and Chamo's sneaky smile.

After a minute of sliding down the vine, they stopped at a cave entrance on the side, about the size of an adult human. Jack then moved a bit and allowed Arista to go first before he climbed in as well. "Much better than the last free fall," he said as he looked ahead in the cave for anything dangerous.

As he did, Arista watched Jack and Chamo before she heard voices outside.

"If it isn't the runt!"

Arista moved towards the entrance of the cave and continued to listen to the giants.

"What are ye doing here!?"

"Just passing through," the BFG said trying to act normal to protect the teens.

"What's you're hurry," one said as he shoved the BFG onto the ground slightly shacking the mountain.

Arista might not have been able to save what was happening, but based on the words, and sounds, she could tell the BFG was being bullied by the others giants. Inside, she felt a sense of sadness and anger at how the giants could treat one of their own like some toy to abuse. It made how her sisters left her to bring Ariel home seem like nothing compared to what the BFG was going through.

"'It's not right,' is what's going through your head, right?"

Artists nodded on instinct from the words of the voice only to raise an eyebrow in confusion as she looked behind to see Jack over her shoulder with a serious look on his face.

"That's what I was thinking the day I first saw them do that to the BFG," he explained as he turned around and went deeper into the cave with Chamo on his shoulder.

Arista watched them entered the cave while hiding a blush in the dark. She turned her head back to outside again for a moment, 'He's right… About all of that,' she thought to herself about the BFG as she went in after the adventurer.

 **Castle Dungeon**

Inside the dungeon, the room was barely lite with only small beams of light shining through the cracks in the stone walls. The room was filled with cages dangling in the air containing the skeletal remains of humans. The room was filled with a musty smell and a dry air giving the room the feeling it was usually empty. However, at the moment the room was occupied. In the center of the room was a giant looking at one cage in particular that sat in the corner. He was concealed in shadows leaving his appearance a mystery.

"Tell me," the giant spoke out, "Do you believe in God?" His voice echoed throughout the room making it sound louder and more intimidating.

The cage sat on a stone slab with bits of sunlight shining through the bars. Inside was none other than Ariel who was standing as far as she could from the sound of the voice. "I've never thought about the subject," she spoke out trying to hide her fear from the giant.

"Would you like meet him to know for sure," the giant spoke out again as he paced back and forth. Every time he spoke out, an inhuman groaning was heard as well. It was as if there were two giants in the room but Ariel could only see the one giant.

"Not yet, no," Ariel spoke out again as her brave front started to weaken.

"Then you will answer our question," the giant ordered Ariel, "How did you get here," he asked her wanting to know himself.

"I won't answer," Ariel answered in defiance, "I understand what telling you would mean."

"Then you should know," the giant spoke again as he took a step forward as he crushed a pile of human bones under his foot, "What not telling us means." He could see Ariel back away but maintained a strong face despite the unease she felt from the inhumanly gagging sound. "Aside from your sun haired kin, where are the others," he asked.

'They still don't have Arista, then there's still hope,' Ariel thought in silent relief, "My sister and I came alone," she answered the giant, "There was no one there when I woke up."

"You think we are FOOLS," the giant yelled at Ariel causing her to cover her ears at the roar of his voice along with the powerful echo, "Where you go, many more will follow!" The giant clenched his fist in anger as he stared down at Ariel with an angry glare. "You and your sister are descendants of Poseidon the Horrible, are you not," he questioned the mermaid in a cage. A second voice spoke out mimicking the first voice as he asked her, but he spoke in a groggily voice.

"Poseidon," Ariel whispered as she took her hands off her ears after hearing the question, "But he reigned over the ocean centuries ago." Despite the lack of light, Ariel saw the giant turn around with his back now facing her while the sound of chains rattling filled the air. She could now see an area of the giant's back revealing two spines in a V shape.

"Have we faded into legends," he asked her with a bit of sadness in his voice as he looked down at the floor. After a moment, his back tightened, and his head straightened up. "We have forgotten the faces of the Kings who imprisoned us here," he spoke out as he turned around to face Ariel, "We have forgotten the sound of their voices." The giant walked over to the side of the wall where Ariel's cage sat, "But we never forget a smell," he said as he lowered himself down towards Ariel who was losing her nerve, "Your blood betrays you," he said as his face became enlightened by the light along with a second head. The first head on the right was a regular shaped head. He had a bald head, 5 o;clock shadow on his face, and brown eyes. The second head on the left was smaller, had goofy like eyes, and almost bald except for a few strands of hair sticking out. "Your Highness," the right head spoke out revealing himself to be the one speaking while the other head repeated what was said but in a groggily voice.

Ariel backed away in fear as far as she could and now knew for sure who this giant was. It was Fallon, the two-headed leader of the giants. Fallon knocked the cage causing Ariel to fall onto the floor as he lifted her cage up and left the room.

 **Caverns**

Back with Jack's group, they made their way deeper through the dark cave. Arista was having a hard time not feeling scared from this situation. The cave they were in was dark and narrow with dead roots hanging down from the ceiling. If she could see, she would notice old cobwebs here and there in different parts of the cavern. 'Keep calm. Just relax,' she told herself as she held the wall of the cave for support, 'It's just like that time Ariel went into that human ship. Only this time, I have a guide.' She looked at Jack who was a few meters ahead of her with Chamo still on his shoulder.

"Are you doing okay Arista," Jack asked as he looked behind him to make sure she hadn't gotten lost, "It can be hard see where you are going in here."

"I'm all right thanks," Arista told him, "This isn't my first time wondering in a dark place. But are you sure we're going the right way?"

"I don't. Chamo does though," Jack said pointing to Chamo, "While I spend my days out in forest, he spends it mapping the tunnels in the castle for quick use."

"That and leaving markings on the wall for easy reference," Chamo added as he jumped down and pointed to stone in the wall with GH itched into it. "Other than fend off giants, there's nothing else to do. So, I figured I'd make a map in case we needed a quick escape," Chamo finished as he finished his cigar.

Arista saw the stone and ran her hand over the carving of the letters. But then she thought of something and looked at the two, "Why would you even want to come her- WHOOAA!" Arista tripped on something and started to fall forward. The next thing she knew, she was in Jack's arms again after he quickly turned around and caught her.

"Careful. This place can hide even the smallest of dangers," Jack said as he helped her onto her feet.

"Thanks... Jack," Arista said as she shied her face away unable to look at him in the eye. 'What is wrong with me? My face feels hot and my heart is beating so fast,' Arista thought to herself as her face blushed but was hidden in the dark.

Jack wasn't much different as he too had a blush on his face for reasons unknown to him as he too turned his face away even though the darkness hid his blush as well.

"Aww. Don't you two look cute," Chamo said with a mischievous expression as he hid his tail that he used to trip Arista, "Maybe you two should think about getting married when this is over."

"Three? How did they get up here?"

The sound of a loud voice prevented the two from responding to Chamo's teasing and the two broke apart and moved towards the source of the sound. With a light shining in from a small crack in the wall, Jack could see a group of giants walking down the hallway.

"I don't know," another giant said, "Perhaps they've learned to flyin the air like birds," he joked causing the other giants to laugh

"Nah, they're probably too stupid for that," the other giant said causing the rest to laugh at his insult as they entered through a doorway.

Jack looked through the crack as best he could while Chamo and Arista listened in. "Are all giants aside from the BFG that rude," Arista asked not liking how they could laugh as such rude comments.

"No... Some are worse," Chamo said as he checked his map, "There are a few that take a dump in the middle of the road just for the heck of it."

Arista cringed in disgust at the comment but stopped when Jack turned to face the other two. "It looks like they're heading for the grand hall," he told the two.

"Do you think that's where Ariel is," Arista asked with hope in her voice.

"I bet my crumpets she is," Jack said earning a confused expression from Arista, "It's a pastry from England. Goes great with raspberry jam actually," he said as the three went down a tunnel towards the Grand Hall.

 **Grand Hall**

After a few moments of going through the cave, Jack, Arista, and Chamo emerged from the tunnel into the bright light of the room. Arista looked in fear and amazement at the room before her.

The room was large, even from a Giant's prospective. The room was lit with some torches on the wall and sunlight from the wide doorway that led outside with different waterfalls. On both sides of the room were long wooden tables and cheaply made seats made of wood. In the center of hall at the end of the room stood a large thrown made of brown metal. On both sides of the room were giants sitting and eating and drinking waiting for the reason for the big announcement.

"So many giants," Arista said as she back from the view in fear.

"It's okay. Despite their height, they can't reach up here," Jack told her in order to comfort her, "Just don't make any loud noises and we'll be safe."

"Right... Right," Arista said as she took a few deep breathes, "You know, I'll never get used to not seeing bubbles whenever I breath," she said trying to lighten the mood.

"My brothers...at long, long last."

Fallon's voice got everyone's attention, including the three spies near the ceiling. They looked down as Fallon moved through the crowed holding a cage. "The mankind have returned!"

Arista looked down and became horrified at seeing Fallon for the first time and his second head. But she forgot all about that when she saw who was in the cage. "ARI- Hmmp," Arista started to yell out but was stopped by Chamo covering her mouth.

"Sorry ma'am, but we need to be silent," Chamo told her, "There are too many to handle so we just have to watch for now." Arista silently nodded in agreement as they continued to watch even if she didn't like it. However, Chamo looked down at Ariel and his eyes suddenly turned into bulging hearts at the sight of her. "A... A... A... Lovely- HMMMMphhh," Chamo stated to say before Jack covered his mouth stopping him from giving them away. He gave his partner a 'Not Now' glare as they all watched the scene before them.

Back with Ariel, she found herself being rocked back and forth in the cage with different giants looking at her through the bars. "They're uglier than I remember," one said causing her to back away to the wall of the cage in fear.

"And among them... comes the blood... of one of our jailers," Fallon continued as he showed Ariel to different giants in the crowd while heading for the throne, "Poseiden the Horrible!"

"Poseiden," Fallon's second head said with a smile on his face.

Suddenly, Ariel felt the cage being lifted onto its side as she was forced to see Fumm, the same giant that caught her in the forest "Hello there. Remember me," he said with an evil smile causing Ariel to gasp in fear.

"And today... we will taste," Fallon continued as he placed the cage on the throne, "The sweet nectar... of revenge!" This earned a loud roar of joy from the other giants as they gathered around the throne like a pack of wolves circling their prey.

Ariel looked at her surroundings in fear, 'No room to waterbend, an entire army of giants wanting to eat me, and no idea where I am now,' Ariel thought going over her situation hoping for a solution, 'Now would be a good time for Eric to come to my rescue like I told Arista and Daddy he would.'

Ariel suddenly felt the cage shake as Fallon got both his heads in front of her, "So Princess... Are you ready to tell us where the way down is," he told her with an evil tone of voice, "Or will the idea of being eaten help loosen your lips?"

"No, General. I found her," Fumm's voice filled the hall before Ariel could respond as he walked forward, "The right to eat her is mine alone."

Fumm's claim to Ariel was answered by Fallon with a chain mace to the head sending Fumm onto the floor. "I know the rules... of the hunt, Fumm," Fallon told the down giant as he circled around him while the other giants backed away, "But she is different," he exclaimed while pointing his chain mace at Ariel.

"The general abuses his power. You're not our king," Fumm shot back while picking himself up and challenging Fallon with a roar. Fallon and his second head roared back at him like a lion with a larger roar defending its claim.

"You're right about that..."

The new voice caught everyone's attention as they turned towards the door. The sight confused the giants but horrified Ariel beyond belief. There stood Bonecruncher with Eric clenched in one hand and held Pacifica in the other.

"ERIC," Ariel exclaimed as she grabbed the sides of her cage.

"But I'd say I'm more of a queen than a king," Pacifica said with a grin and a sly look in her eyes as she waved to Bonecruncher to move forward.

"Bonecruncher," Fallon asked in a dumbfounded tone of voice.

"I had no choice General Fallon," Bonecruncher admitted in shame as he was forced to approached the throne, "She's has the same powers as... As the..."

"I believe he's referring to this," Pacifica said as she tapped the sweatband around her forehead as it magically changed into a bronze looking crown that gave off a golden glow.

"The crown," Fallon said in silent shock as the feeling of the crown began to overtake him and the other giants.

"That's right. The crown cut from the very same stone as your hard hearts and bound by the magic of the three rulers to control you," Pacifica explained in a confident tone of voice as all the giants groaned as they were forced to get onto their knees, "They are inextricably linked. To deny the crown... is to deny your existence." As Bonecruncher continued towards the throne, Pacifica looked to see Fallon continuing to fight the crown's influence to the best of his ability. "Come now General, you should know there's no resisting the crown," Pacifica said as she pointed her finger down instructing Fallon to bow. Much to his dismay, Fallon was forced to bow with his head down onto the floor. Never before had he felt such humiliation go through him.

This earned a chuckle from Pacifica as Bonecruncher put her onto the thrown while placing Eric next to Ariel. Ariel looked at Eric, "Eric, are you all right? Please tell me you are okay," she pleaded to Eric. However, all he could do was move his eyes towards Ariel as he struggled to speak. She looked at Pacifica in fear, "What happened to him Pacifica and what you doing here?!"

"That's thanks to me actually," Pacifica replied in a cruel voice causing Ariel to look at her in confusion, "I paralyzed him like I did before at the beanstalk. He'll be fine in a little while though. You should be more worried about you and your Catch's current situation... Angel Fish."

Ariel's eyes widened in shock at Pacifica's words, especially what she just called Ariel. "Ursula," Ariel asked in horror hoping she was wrong.

This caused Pacifica to grin evilly at her foe's dread, "That's right. It's a shame you're too late to do anything about it," she told the Little Mermaid before turning her attention to General Fallon and the Giants. "Now then, on to business. Giants of Giant's Land... I am Ursula, Witch of the Seas and the future ruler of the Oceans. I have a proposition for all of you." These words caused random giants to start talking to themselves.

"Another sea person?"

"Looks and smells like a human to me."

"Maybe she's hiding her tail somewhere like the other two are."

"Well than your future highness," Fallon said as he stood with his brothers, "What is the proposal of yours?"

"It's actually quite simply... I will lead you to the beanstalk... The beanstalk that I grew on the Earth below us and your way down as you put it and I will give you the land to rule as you please," Pacifica/Ursula explained the terms of her deal with the giants, "In exchange, you will help me acquire the Three Hearts of the Sea and leave the oceans alone for me to rule over." This caused a large number of giants to grin at this deal as they chattered among themselves.

"BEAN- HMMPphh," Jack exclaimed before his mouth was shut by Arista leaving all three viewers covering each other's mouths to keep themselves silent.

"Why should we believe you," Fallon said not trusting the witch, "It was thanks to the Beings of the Sea, the Man Kind, and the Lightning People that we were banished to this place. How do we know that you won't just banish us back to our prison?"

"Prison," Fallon's second head responded.

"Simple General," Pacifica/Ursula responded, "I wish to rule the denizens of the sea. I could care less what happens to the land. But as a show of good faith to you and motivation to hold your end of our deal... Once you bring me the Hearts and agree to leave the oceans alone... I will give the crown."

The caused all the giants to gasp in shock, even Fallon's two heads were taken back by this. Their number one weakness, the one that led to their defeat centuries ago in their hands... "Very well... Your highness," Fallon replied in a cruel tone still not trusting Ursula while she wore the crown, "You shall have your Hearts of the Sea." Then he pointed to Ariel, "But the Princess and her sister where ever she is now belong to me!"

"I'm afraid not," Ursula/Pacifica replied back, "You see she and her sister are the daughters of King Triton, my arch enemy and the descendant of your enemy Poseiden. Both of them will be needed in order to make getting the Trident easier." She then pointed to Eric who was struggling to move, "And this boy is not only the new Seablade Bearer, but also the son of the current King of Atlantis. The Lightning People who helped defeat you before." This caused the giants to glare and growl at Eric. If it wasn't for the crown holding them back, they would've jumped him at that moment. "Once I have the Hearts of the Sea, you can do whatever you like with them. But Trident and her are mine," Ursula responded while looking at Ariel, "You see I too wish to exact my own revenge on her."

"You've gone mad Ursula," Ariel exclaimed getting Ursula's attention, "If the giants return to the surface, they'll consume everything! Including the ocean!"

"As I said, what happens to the land is of no matter to me," Ursula responded, "And once the Three Hearts are mine, I won't need to possess this girl any longer. She, the rest of the humans, and the Atlanteans can be eaten by the giants for all I care!" Ariel was in horror at Ursula's words, "Besides, I have gone mad. After all, this new power has gone to my head," she replied back as she pointed out the crown around her puppet's head.

Pacifica/Ursula turned her attention back at the giants, "Now then," she said getting the giants attention, "Have these two put somewhere safe. Another group of you will form a search party to find the other mermaid out of water. The rest of you... Sharpen your swords, gather your armor, and prepare for battle," Ursula ordered her new subjects, "Tonight we feast and attack the surface at dawn!"

All of the giants cheered in joy at the thought of returning to Earth below, extracting the revenge they dreamt of for years, and devouring the humans they had grown a taste for. Fallon on the other hand was silent as he still remained uneasy about the crown being used on them. But for now, he knew he had to play along.

Back with Jack's group, they continued to look on in horror at the scene before them. "Ursula has lost her mind," Arista said, "They'll turn on her the moment she gives them the crown and then we're all doomed."

Jack and Chamo didn't say anything as the watched a giant take a still caged Ariel and Eric over to Fallon who whispered something in his ear. The giant nodded and headed down a hallway, one that Chamo knew full well where it went. "Uh oh," he said as he looked at the teens, "Let's panic as we go after your friends who are about to live out the giants' worst form a torment," Chamo told Arista and Jack as they headed back into the tunnel as the Giants continued to cheer for their new ruler and her plan.

 **Next Chapter: The Sidekicks' Troubles; Ariel and Eric's Dinner Date**

* * *

 **Hey, I'm really sorry this is late. One of my co-workers left so it's been down to two of us a while. Now I know there are some questions on your mind like Jack and Chamo are so surprised by the beanstalk and what the others are doing. That's in the next part. It was going to be in this chapter, but I looked at it, and I thought it would be too much to read in one setting. So I split it in two. I also want to thank Stone-Man85 for his help again with some of the scenes. If not for him, this might have taken longer. Now that things are calm, I'm going to have more time to work on it again. Happy reading.**


	9. Chapter 9 Truth and Answers pt2

**Sorry this took too long. This was harder than I thought it would be and work and life kept getting in the way. Also, I want to thank Stone-Man85 for help with one scene and with proof reading this. Read and enjoy.**

 **Chapter 9 Truth and Answers; Mastermind Revealed**

 **Another Part of the Castle**

It was a dark room with only a few beams of light shining through the holes in the ceiling. Cobwebs filled every corner of the room. The air was stale as the sound of chains slowly dangling from the walls gave the room the feeling of hopelessness for those who were imprisoned or lost in the room. The walls were made of stone while the floor was covered with bones from creatures of all shapes and sizes adding to the feeling of dread in the room.

Suddenly, a brick began to vibrate a bit as muffled voices were heard behind the stone. Suddenly, the brick began to slowly shuffle from the other stones. After a few minutes, the stone finally fell, and landed with a loud thump. Dust rose up from the ground as the voices became clear.

"Now WHERE ARE WE!?"

Out of the hole in the wall came Iago, Sebastian riding on the bird's head, and Dax carrying Eric's bag as best he could despite the size difference. "Cold, dark, empty," Dax began to say as he looked around, "Looks like a dungeon. A really, really big one."

"Oh mon, this place is bigger than the palace," Sebastian said as he looked around from Iago's head, "It will take hours or even days to find anyone in here!"

After Eric had been taken by captive by the giant and Pacifica, Iago, Dax, and Sebastian who were hidden in Eric's bag the whole time followed after him without being noticed. Once they arrived at the castle, they entered a hole on the side to avoid being seen by other giants and had been wondering the caves until they reached a dead end.

"It will take ten times that long to search the entire castle," Iago said as he flew around the room looking for anything valuable, "Not a sign of life or even a pinch of gold in sight! What a waste of my time on a stupid legend!" Iago then landed as he marched around pulling feathers out of himself out of anger, "Look at this. Look at this. I'm so ticked off that I'm molting!"

Dax looked away with an evil smile, "Either that, or it just means you're ready to mate," Dax joked to himself.

Sebastian looked at Iago with deadpanned looks at the parrot's attempt to show his frustration. "You're pulling the feathers out yourself mon," Sebastian said as he simply hung on for the ride, "Plus we here to look for Ariel, Arista, and Eric," he said as he hung his head down to give Iago a stern look, "Not look for gold!"

"Hey, I want to save the teens too along with having to be the bad news bird for an angry king of the seas," Iago replied back as he walked around looking for anything valuable, "I just consider the gold a bonus. If there was ANY HERE!" After he yelled out in frustration, he kicked a rock nearby out of frustration, only to begin hopping on one foot as he held the other in pain from the impact.

"If you're finished Iago," Dax said as he looked above him for signs of an exit, "We need to find a way out of here and the teens. There's got to be a way out of here."

"Yeah, yeah," the parrot shot back as he continued to hold his foot in pain. Then he looked at the medium sized stone with a glare as he grabbed the sides of it, "No rock is going to get the better of this bird," he exclaimed as he began to push it over.

"We don't have time for dis Iago," Sebastian told him, "Besides, there no way you'll push that over!"

With a look of frustration on his face, Iago used all the strength his bird body had to accomplish his task, "You'd be surprised what a little anger and determination... Will. GET YOU!" With a final push, Iago successfully pushed the stone over. "HA! What do you think of that crusta- cian..."

As soon as the stone was turned over, a blinding light shined in the room blinding all three creatures as they covered their eyes. As soon as Iago's eyes adjusted to the light, he opened them slightly, only to go bug eyed at what he saw along with Sebastian and Dax. The shining stone sparkled in the faint light revealing what it really was... A big hunk of pure, 24 karat gold.

"Gold... Gold. GOLD," Iago weakly said before the realization sunk in and he yelled out as thought he was the happiest bird alive. "I'M RICH! I'M WEALTHY," Iago yelled out as he flew all around it with Sebastian hanging on to dear life. Iago then landed on the gold and hugged it, "I'M COMFORTABLE WELL OFF! I'M THE RICHEST BIRD ALIVE," he yelled in joy as he rolled all over his prize.

Dax and Sebastian who was thrown off when Iago flew like a maniac thanks to gold fever, was now sitting on top of Eric's bag as they watched Iago continue to cuddle his new riches. "I can't believe him! We're in the middle of a giant filled castle, we have no idea where we are, and all he can think about is a big piece of gold," Sebastian said with a glare, "Right Dax?"

"So many clams..."

Sebastian looked to see Dax in a daze as drool oozed from the side of his mouth, "I could buy so many clams with that egg," Dax said as he moaned in delight as the thought of a truck dumping clams at his feet. His dream came to an end when a surge of pain went through him. "OOWWW," he yelled out as he looked at the source of the pain. It was Sebastian giving him a glare and had Dax's tail in his claws. "Uhh, sorry," Dax said getting the message as he stroked his tail, "Just out of curiosity Iago," Dax said as he looked at Iago, "but how do you plan to- to- to-"

"I'll figure something else," Iago said as he gave the two a glare, "But I don't plan to leave my ticket to easy street here to gather dust forever!" Iago then noticed that Dax and Sebastian were acting strange. Dax was staring in fear as he stood still while Sebastian had a similar expression as he hid behind Dax's tail shaking. "What the heck are you two looking at," Iago said in an annoyed tone as he turned around, "You two look like you've seen a- a- a- a-"

Iago began to turn white at the sight before him. There standing over him was a tall shadowed figure staring at him. The shadow stood twelve feet high leaving the three sidekicks feeling very small at the moment.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! GIAAAANT," Iago exclaimed as he began to push the egg to safety, "No way I'm letting some human eating caveman take my GOLD!"

Dax and Sebastian on the other hand, did not share Iago's bravery or love of gold as they made a break for it. Due to the way they came in being out of reach, the two jumped behind some nearby rubble to avoid detection. As Dax looked around the corner, he saw Iago continuing to save his gold. "Iago, forget the egg and hide somewhere," Dax yelled out.

"Forget it! I'm not letting my new nest egg be crushed by a giant," Iago yelled out as he continued to push the egg away.

Just then, Iago felt a nudging on the back of his head. "What the," he asked as he and the others look to see something that left them shocked. In the beams of light, the shadowed creature was revealed to be a gosling with golden yellow feathers, brown eyes, and long eyelashes. It kept moving its head side to side looking at the three sidekicks looking confused by the gosling.

"Hehehe, I knew we weren't in real danger," Iago said, "Who's afraid of a baby bird, right guys?"

"What's a baby doing here," Sebastian asked not believing it, "This would be the last place an infant should be!"

Suddenly, the chick began to nuzzle next to Iago, "Hey! Knock it off," Iago exclaimed not liking the attention, "I'm not a babysitter!" This only caused the chick to rub more against the parrot.

Dax and Sebastian laughed at the sight of Iago being smothered by the baby eyed chick, "It looks like it likes you Iago," Dax said between laughs, "Hey, maybe you could start a babysitting service!" As Dax and Sebastian continued to laugh, Iago looked at them with an annoyed face, only to go wide eyed.

"Yeah mon," Sebastian joined in as a large shadow loomed over the two laughing critters, "Then you'd have all the money you'd want. As long as you worked for it!"

"Meeeh, go take a swim in a tolet bowl, both of ya," Iago groaned.

But then something happened, no one ever suspected. The little Gosling stepped back for a moment, shaking as its left eye twitched. It groaned uncomfortably, until... a Golden Egg shot out of her pooper.

All three furry sidekicks blinked at that, as Sebastian looked to Dax, as he asked, "You just saw dat little Goose-ing lay a golden egg, right?"

"Yes," Dax nodded.

"Good bird," Iago patted the bird's head. "This is it guys," Iago exclaimed as he flew all over the egg, "This is the stash I was expecting when I came up here! Our ticket to easy street back home boys!" Iago began to imagine his life in Port Royal with his riches. A throne room filled with gold, rows of the finest and juiciest fruit money could buy, him scratching his back with a golden back scratcher, and the world's softest and most comfortable pillow.

"A lot of good all that gold is going to do here," Sebastian pointed out to the day dreaming bird, "We need to get out of this-"

"Hurry up! We need to get ready for tomorrow!"

The four froze as soon as they heard the thunderous voices and the vibrations of large footsteps beneath their feet.

"Okay, time to go," Dax cried as he looked around, "Ditch the gold unless you'd rather end up a snake!"

"Sure," Iago exclaimed as he forgot all about the gold egg he found while the chick followed after him, "Who needs one egg when I have an infinite supply of them right here," he said while patting the chick's head.

"A lot of good dat will do if we can't get out of here," Sebastian yelled out in panic as he looked around for anything to hide in, "There's got to be-"

Suddenly, the chick began to peck at a large stone as if it was trying to move it out of the way. "I think my investment is on to something boys," Iago said as he started to push the stone. Dax and Sebastian joined in on the four and finally pushed the stone away revealing a large hole.

"Oh no. There's no way I'm going down there," Sebastian said, "We don't know what's down there! It could be something worse than what's in here!" The next thing Sebastian knew, he could feel a powerful grip around him.

It was Dax who holding Sebastian, "I'll take what's down there over what's in here," he said as he jumped down. Both of their screams echoed through the dark hole. Soon, Iago's was joined as he and the chick entered the hole.

What they failed to notice though was a dark shadow rising from the side of the room. It looked around before releasing a cry of emotional pain. It then moved towards the hole and looked down hole with rage in its eye.

After a few minutes, the four animals flew out of the hole and ended up in a pile. "Well, we ditched that problem," Dax painfully said as he laid on the bottom of the pile, "But where are we now?"

The three looked as they saw they were in a long corridor. It was filled with knocks and crannies from side to side and cobwebs where ever there was space for it.

"Nowhere to go but forward mon," Sebastian said after fighting his way free of Dax's grip.

"Hold on guys! My Nest Egg doesn't want to go," Iago said as he tried to lead it forward, "Come on, follow Uncle Iago." The Chick however backed away in fear, as if it knew something bad was down.

"I don't know about your Nest Egg Mon," Sebastian said as he started crawling into the cave, "But I need to find the King's daughters if I want to stay in one piece."

"I'm with Sebastian on that," Dax said as he followed after him, "Besides... No way I'm eating dirt instead of clams for the rest of my life in here."

Iago watched as the two went into the darkness of the cave and looked at the scared chick. He flew in front of the chick, "Okay, I get it. You're scared of whatever is in there," Iago says, "Heck! I didn't want to come here. But we can both agree the sooner we get out, the sooner we'll be safe right?"

The chick looked at Iago, moved its head to see the cave, and back to Iago. It nodded nervously showing it was still scared. "Good Nest Egg," Iago said as he led the chick after the other animals in the shadows of the cave.

As the four walked forward, the feeling of the cave being endless became more noticeable to them as every corner looked the same to them. "Where the heck is the ending to this hole," Iago exclaimed as they continued, "You'd think whoever built this cave would've have put a signpost or something!"

"What I want to know is, who built this cave in the first place," Dax said as he looked at the dark ceiling, "There's no way the Giants could've-"

Before anyone could answer, they heard the sounds of something shaking and breaking. The sounds became louder as though the source was coming closer. All four stood still as statues until Dax worked up the nerve to look behind him.

"Well? What is it mon," Sebastian asked Dax. He didn't respond though as he turned around with a face as pale as a ghost, "What mon? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Dax gulped as he took a deep breath, "You two ever seen that movie starring Harrison Ford where he ran down a cave just like this," Dax asked the two of them.

The Chick didn't respond but Iago and Sebastian shook their heads. "I don't even know who that is mon," Sebastian said looking completely confused.

"We're about to relive one of his most famous scenes," Dax said as the shaking sound grew louder.

"Is that a bad thing," Iago asked now sure how to feel about that but could feel the fear in Dax's voice.

"Only if you're the stunt double and you can't run fast enough," Dax replied, "Which is what we should do NOW!" Then he started to run as fast as he could with the others left behind. They turned to see the source of Dax's fear and became just as white with fear.

There above them, hanging from the celling by spider threads, was a large and heavy round stone. The shaking sound was causing the threads to break making the stone come closer and closer to the ground.

"Time to run like the otter said," Iago said as he grabbed Sebastian.

"Hey! What are you doing you crazy bird," the crab exclaimed as he was forced to stick his claws out.

"Giving the Nest Egg some motivation," Iago said as he stuck Sebastian claws into the back of the Chick. It squealed in pain as it started to run as Iago threw Sebastian onto the Chick as he flew after them.

"Oh no! Not this again," Sebastian yelled in despair as he was forced to hang on for dear life again. With every step the chick made, the poor crab was swung side to side. Suddenly, a loud bang was heard and followed by the sound of something rolling faster and faster. Sebastian looked back to see that it was the boulder and it was getting closer.

After a minute, the three caught up with Dax who was still running for dear life. "Did this Ford person manage to out run the boulder," Sebastian asked Dax.

"Sure he did! But that was a movie and this is real life," Dax yelled as they kept running with the boulder picking up speed, "We don't have plot armor like in stories and movies!"

As the four jumped through a set of stalagmites and stalactites, the boulder slammed into the sharp stones and came to a halt. The Dax, the Chick, and Iago began to catch their breath from all the running and flying they did. "Well... That's now how it ended in the film," Dax said as he stood with his back against the boulder, "But this works too," he said with a relived look on his face.

Suddenly, the boulder exploded sending fragments of stone all over and filled the cave with dirt. The three began to cough as they recovered from the unexpected blast. "That didn't happen in the film," Dax said as he looked at the three, "But we're still good right guys?"

"SWEET MERCIFUL CRAP," Iago exclaimed in horror while the Chick's baby eyes opened wide in fear

"MOTHER OF PEARL," Sebastian yelled as he shook and stared with fear all over his face.

"What's with you guys," Dax asked in confusion. Suddenly, a blob of green slime landed on his shoulder as if answering Dax's question. The otter looked at his shoulder with wide eyes before looking back at his friends and then above him.

There standing over him was a fearsome sight. Eight eyes stared down at him as slime dripped from two large fangs connected to large mandibles. Its body was white with eight legs and a large end section with two spikes sticking out of the end. The creature revealed to be a new born spider let out a hissing sound as it's fangs and two smaller mandibles moved around in anticipation for the sight before it... Nurishment.

Dax looked back down with eyes open wide enough to fall out of the eye sockets, "Spi- Spi- Spi-" Dax said as he tried to spit out what he was saying, "SPI- HAbblub! HIBIJIBIJIBJIB..."

"I believe what you're trying to say is... RRUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN," Sebastian finally exclaimed as the four ran for their legs and wings could carry them. The spider ran after them past the remains of the stone which had been its egg down the seemingly endless cave.

 **Meanwhile**

"This is bad. This is so very bad!"

After hearing Ursula's speech, Jack, Chamo, and Arista were moving through the tunnels again while following the giant that took Ariel and Eric. Light shined down through the holes in the ceiling slightly illuminating the cave. As they moved through the tunnel, Chamo was panicking at this new turn of events as he sat on Jack's shoulders.

"Isn't fighting giants the activity you two do every day," Arista asked with confusion at their reactions, and concern for her sister's life in her voice, "The fact that you're getting upset isn't making me feel any better about this rescue."

Chamo turned to look at Arista with a panicked expression of his own. "Upset?! Upset is finding out your folks threw out your favorite collection to make room for books on dental hygiene," he ranted as he paced along Jack's shoulders, "Upset is finding out your favorite cigar brand has been replaced with an inferior one that's double the price! This isn't upset kid, this is panic! We're practically at the door step of Giant War II!"

A silence filled the cavern after Chamo's freak out as the group stood still as the Ermine continued to pace. He then looked at Jack who had a calm expression despite their situation, "And how are you so calm about this?!"

Jack looked at Chamo with a calm expression, then at Arista, and took a deep breath, "First off, I want to apologize for my friend here. We do fight giants but we never thought a beanstalk would actually be a factor in this," he told Arista in a calm voice, "Which I would actually like to ask you about later. I apologize again for not asking sooner." He turned to look at Chamo, "Second, I admit. This beanstalk is a new issue, but panicking won't get us, Arista's sister, and her friend out of here. So, I'll panic after we're all safe." He then knelt down, picked up a rock, and looked over it before smelling it.

Arista just stared for a moment as she took that all in, 'It's so hard to tell whether he has his head on straight or not,' she thought as she watched him. "I agree. We should find Ariel and her friend and leave before we're discovered," she responded as she raised an eyebrow as Jack licked the rock.

"Right, well we're on the right path," Jack said as he stood up and started down the cave again, "They most assuredly went this way."

After a few minutes of walking, the three emerged from a medium sized crack in the wall. As they emerged from the cave, Arista was left speechless as the sight before her. They were now outside again as she could see bits of the blue skies in the distance, but above her was the underside of the land. Large towers of stone stood up supporting the castle. The towers were uneven stones with cells scattered all over the tower. Beyond the stone towers were more patches of land connected to each other by smaller mountain roads. Some covered with greenery, others were grey and exposed. On one was a small waterfall that fell towards the ocean clouds below. Behind the explorers were more cells with piles of decaying human bones next to each cell and to the side was a stone staircase with brown roots holding it in place.

Arista backed away in fear with her back against the wall as she continued to look down. "You all right," Jack asked her, "You can easily become overwhelmed and dizzy the first time you look down a drop like this."

Arista looked at the calm Jack and nervously nodded, "Yes! It's just... I'm not used to the feeling of quickly falling down and going up like before in the forest. What do you call that feeling," she asked trying to sound unnerved.

"Gravity, ma'am" Chamo answered as Jack made his way along the stone path like this was nothing, "It's the force that weighs everything down to Earth."

"Yes... That," Arista replied as she nervously moved against the wall with her back to it, "In the ocean, you can go up and down and not feel like we're being dragged down like that."

"Sounds great for exploring high and low places," Jack replied, "Much easier than worrying about avalanches and weak branches."

"Jacky, all that climbing and jumping experience is what keeps you in shape," Chamo said reminding his partner, "Even though I do agree that it would mean less slamming into trees." This earned a laugh from Jack and a slight giggle from Arista as she continued.

As they moved down the along the path outside, Jack discreetly stole glances at Arista as a thought ran through his mind. "So... You are... Princess," he finally said even though he was afraid he was intruding on her personal business.

"Yes. I'm the fifth oldest of seven daughters," Arista answered with a slight bit of proudness but mostly overshadowed by the fear of her situation. Then she looked at him a little insulted by the question, "Is that a problem?"

"No, no. Not at all," Jack said quickly trying to not sound like he was insulting her, "I just didn't think the descendants of King Neptune would be here at the same time as a new beanstalk." He chuckled a bit from the cosmic coincidence, "I honestly never thought it would happen."

"I actually had forgotten all about this place until a few days ago," Arista admitted.

"Well, I for one could tell that she was a princess," Chamo admitted as he looked ahead, "She has an air to her fitting of royalty." Then he put his head next to Jack's ear, "Plus she has the body type matching that of a princess. Either with her tail or legs," he whispered while raising his eyebrows and giving a sleazy smile. Then he returned to normal, "There's something that's bothering me about all this though," he said while looking at Arista, "How did-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAHAAAHHHHHAAAHHH!"

"I HAVE TOO MANY RICH DREAMS TO DIE HERE!"

Suddenly, the sounds of screams of terror filled the air causing the three to turn in the direction of the voices. The feeling of the ground vibrating was heard and felt as the voices grew louder. From out of the hole, came Dax, the gooseling, and Iago and Sebastian riding the baby goose flying out of the hole in a panic and fell onto the floor.

"Chamo," Jack spoke up with a stunned expression on his face as he noticed the baby goose the most of the new faces, "I might be seeing things, which is quite possible considering everything I've been through, but is that what I think it is?"

"Indeed it is," Chamo said in equal surprise, "A golden gosling... I thought the giants ate them all!"

"Sebastian," Arista exclaimed as she saw the crab breathing extremely hard, "What are you doin-"

Before Arista could get an answer, the spider's two front legs emerged from the hole as it pulled itself up revealing its head. It released a roar that caused everyone to scream in fear again as more venom dripped from its fangs.

Arista had never seen a creature like this before. One with so many eyes, fangs longer than shark teeth, and long mandibles moving around looking for food. On instinct, she grabbed onto the closest thing available, which turned out to be Jack as she held his arm tightly. "What- What is that thing," she asked in horror as she looked to Jack for answer. Jack however was standing and staring at the spider as though seeing it was a common occurrence. "Please tell me this isn't the one thing that you're afraid of fighting," she asked as she shook his arm hoping to snap him out of it.

"No ma'am," he said as pulled out a green ball, "Just unexpected," he finished as he flung the ball and it flew at the spider. The moment it collided with the spider, the ball exploded in a burst of red smoke that covered the spider's face.

As soon as the smoke cleared, everyone saw the spider was now perfectly still as it stared at them. Suddenly, the legs began to rise up, and the spider fell back down the hole it came out. A loud slam was heard and the ground shook indicating that it landed on the ground. Sebastian, Iago, Dax, and the Gosling looked down the hole to see the spider had curled into a ball.

"Phew! It's times like this I almost miss being a statue in Tia's home," Dax said gasping for air.

As Jack, Arista, and Chamo looked at the four tired critters, all three were caught by surprise for different reasons by the group. "Well, well, well," Chamo said as he jumped off Jack's shoulders, "If it isn't Guardian Dax."

Dax stopped breathing as soon as he heard that familiar voice and looked to see Chamo with a glare on his face. "Chamo," Dax declared as he jumped up and shot his own glare at the ermine, "So you're out and about again, are you," Dax continued as he marched forward.

"I could say the same thing about you," Chamo said as he marched towards Dax as well, "I see Tia finally decided to let you out again."

The two stood face to face still glaring at each other. To Jack and Arista, the two looked like they were ready to deck each other over something in the past. The two mammals then slammed their hands together and pulled each other into a quick hug as they laughed much to the teens' surprise, "Ah, you clam obsessed otter," Chamo said with a smile on his face, "Good to see you!"

"Same here. I see you're still smoking those cheap cigars," Dax shot back, "You never did have good taste."

"Says the guy who eats clams day in and day out," Chamo replied, "Ever heard of diversity in your diet?"

"Funny. So, what are you doing up here in Giant's Land" Dax asked, "Last I heard, you were hanging out enjoying the life of royalty with your previous master until he's passing."

"Well things got kind of boring and I soon found myself up here of all places," Chamo replied, "I take it the boy in the food court that was captured is your new master?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Before Dax could continue, everyone heard Sebastian yell out in horror at the sight before him. "Not again! Another one that traded her voice for legs," the crab yelled out in horror as he pointed out Arista's legs.

Arista gained a deadpanned expression as she watched the crab's mental break down, "Sebastian, I didn't-"

"I'll have to translate for her like Ariel, give her love tips, and come up with a new song to set the mood," Sebastian continued not hearing Arista's voice, "If the king finds out about this, he'll have my head for-"

SLAP!

"Snap out of it crab," Iago said after giving Sebastian a good slap in the face to calm down, "She can still talk!"

"I needed, thanks," Sebastian said before receiving another slap from the bird from the other side, "I needed that too." This earned another punch from Iago who smiled in delight at this, "You're pushing you luck IAGO," Sebastian sternly told the bird. He then turned his attention back to Arista, "Your highness, I'm glad you are all right."

"Yes I am. For the most part. Thanks to Jack and Chamo," Arista who was glad to see a familiar face said as she picked up Sebastian, "Aside from our current predicament... Have you seen Ariel and E- Her friend?"

"No. We've been going through the caves of this castle ever since that Pacifica girl made the giant deliver her and Eric to the castle," Sebastian replied as he shivered from the memory of the spider from before, "That thing made Davy Jones and his crew almost look-!"

"GIANTS," Iago exclaimed in horror as he pointed behind him. Everyone turned to see what he was pointing to. In the cell behind the group, a giant sat right next to the bars while the rest of the room was dark. He sat with his arms and head resting on his knees looking completely depressed. "Don't eat me! I'm too close to being rich to die," Iago exclaimed in fear.

While most of the animals backed away on instinct, Arista and Jack stood still as they looked up at the giant. It just sat there not giving the group any notice what so ever. The princess looked at the giant looking completely sad and could feel the sadness it was giving off. It was almost as if all the joy and life from this giant was gone leaving it an empty shell. "Jack... This giant... It's not different the others," Arista pointed out almost on the verge of becoming depressed as well

"No, he's not," Jack said looking serious, "He was like the BFG once. Friendly, fun, and free. Now he and the others have lost their inner joy thanks to Fallon and become depressed and sad in and out."

"Hang on there," Iago exclaimed as he flew up in Jack's face, "You're saying there's more than one set giants on these floating rocks!? The legend only spoke of the man eating, gold stealing, giants that invaded the Earth thousands of years ago!"

"Let us GO!"

Before Jack could reply, the sound of a familiar voice echoing in the canyon was heard by the group. "Everyone down," Jack ordered as they all hid as best they could. Across the canyon was the giant Fallon had spoken too before carrying Ariel's cage and a still paralyzed Eric in his other hand. He walked along the pathway past the cells as he banged Ariel's cage against them.

"Ariel! Oh, my nerves are almost as shot as when Ariel first had legs," Sebastian exclaimed seeing the other princess and her future husband in the hands of a man eating giant.

"No need to fear Sebastian," Dax said from his hiding spot, "We just follow that giant to the dungeon and we'll be able to break Ariel and Eric out like that," he said as he snapped his fingers.

"There's just one problem with that idea buddy," Chamo said with a pale look on his face as he shook his head, "We're already in the dungeons and the giant just went into that room!"

"We have to move, fast," Jack ordered as the others got up quickly.

"Jack, what's wrong," Arista asked not liking the sound of either experienced explorers of the land, "Where are they going!?"

"The one place in Giants Land you never want to end up at," Jack said with a serious expression, "They're heading for-"

"The bathroom," Iago guessed, "I bet that room stinks worse than the manure piles in Agrabah."

"Nope, worse," Chamo said, "They're not heading for the-"

 **Kitchen**

The Kitchen was small compared to other kitchens. It was your standard kitchen complete with shelves filled with spices, food, and bowls and plates in the corner. There was a fireplace a little away from the shelves that also doubled as an oven with a staircase behind it. On the other side was a table with knives and bowls leaning next to the wall. Next to the wall where the table was sat a pot full of hearts overflowing from the top with blood stains going down the container. The room was similar to the dungeon, made of uneven stones, dark, and gave off the same hopeless feeling.

The giant placed Ariel's cage on one side of the counter and toss the still paralyzed Eric onto a pile of moist batter. Then the giant went on to pick his nose and eat the snot he pulled out, much to the silent disgust of Ariel and Eric. Then the Giant rolled the dough Eric was in into a roll and moved him onto a steel pan near Ariel. After that, the giant walked over to the shelves with his back turned from the prisoners.

Ariel quietly made her way towards the door of her cage without getting the giant's attention. 'Come on. Come on,' she thought as she attempted to pull the bolt that was keeping the door locked. However, the bolt was too heavy for her due to her fatigue from not eating or sleeping recently and the bolt being too large. 'Moving heavy things was a lot easier in the ocean,' she thought to herself as she started to look around, 'If only there was enough space to water bend. Than I could free myself and save Eric.'

Meanwhile, up in the rafters, Jack, Arista, and the others stared down at the situation before them. 'It's just how I always imagined it after reading the story,' Arista thought as she remembered the nightmares from her childhood of being eaten while by the giants. "Jack, we have to do something," Arista said on the verge of panicking as she looked at Jack, "Please!"

"Never fear ma'am," Jack told her, "We just have to figure out how to do this without putting the captives in danger."

"Especially since you're down to your last sleep bomb," Chamo mentioned as he kept his sights on Ariel or rather, her assets while Dax and Iago did their best to keep the gosling quiet and calm.

Jack stared down like a hawk watching its prey and waiting for the right time to strike. 'Like Chamo said, I have one sleeping spore bomb left,' Jack thought to himself, 'Which would be easy but the risk of the giant falling on the captives and make enough noise to get the other giants' attention.' He continued to watch giant at the shelves and beams he and the others were standing on. "You thinking what I'm thinking partner" Jack asked snapping Chamo out of his intense stare as he looked at Jack giving him a sly look.

"Oh, come on! You really think he'll for that again," Chamo asked knowing what Jack was talking about from his expression alone, "You use that trick once a week."

"It works though, so why change it? Besides, we don't have a lot to time to come up with a brand new one," Jack said as he handed Chamo his blade.

Chamo looked at the blade and groaned in defeat, "Got it partner," Chamo said getting the message as he took the blade.

"Can one of you explain what you're going on about," Sebastian asked from his place on Arista's shoulder, "None of us are really familiar with your plans mon."

"You'll see," Chamo said as he quickly grabbed Sebastian, "Now come on. I'll need a hand or a claw for this part."

"HEY," the crab exclaimed as he suddenly found himself an unwilling volunteer for the operation.

"Jack!? What is he doing," Arista asked Jack in a silent but alarmed tone of voice, "What are you planning to do?"

"A rescue mission with a hint of comedy ma'am," Jack said as he reached into his backpack and pulled out a blue sack similar to the ones he used before, a bottle of water, and a long rope. He tied one end of the rope around the top of the bag, opened the top just a big, and put in a few drops of water into the sack.

"Those two are about to be made into a meal and your putting water into a sack," Iago asked in a sarcastic tone of voice as Jack tied the top of the sack, "Great plan pal! Maybe next you'll add some seasoning to the giant's meal!"

Jack jumped up and back away, "Stand back. The water takes effect very quickly," Jack told the others. Suddenly, the sack which was about the size of a rubber ball expanded to the size of a quarter of the giant's head with the sides hanging down the sides of the beam they were standing on.

Arista and the others stared in surprise of the bag suddenly growing, "What kind of water was that?!"

"Rain water. It's the pollen and the dirt that made the bag expand," Jack said as he tied the other end of the rope around his waist, "Okay, when I give the signal, push the bag down so that's it's dangling please. And whatever you do... Don't get the giant's attention."

Arista looked at the bag and back at Jack, "Wait, what signal," she asked not sure what Jack was doing, "And what will you be-" She went wide eyed in shock as Jack moved quickly but carefully across the beam as the rope traveled with him. "What is he thinking," Arista asked in alarm at the sight of Jack heading towards the table filled with deadly knives.

Just then, the giant turned around with his hands full, and headed for the table. Arista stopped and hid behind the sack waiting for Jack's signal. At the table, the giant placed the different herbs and bottles in his hands, and glared at Ariel to remind her that he was watching her. Ariel stayed in the middle of the cage looking intimidated, mostly to keep the giant thinking she was beaten as she looked at Eric.

She could see that his head was beginning to shake showing that he was starting to break free of the spell Ursula hit him with earlier. Near him, she saw two pigs wrapped in the same batter that he was. They moved their heads back and forth as they squealed.

Ariel was broken away from her stare by the giant slamming his fist on the table. "Don't get any funny ideas, Missy," he said to her in an angry tone, "There's no water for you to dance with in here. A precaution we have been using since the olden days!" Ariel backed away in while trying to act strong but knew he was right as the fear increased inside of her.

As the giant glared at Ariel, Eric heard the giant's threatening tone against his future wife, and became angry. 'If it wasn't for that spell, Ariel and I would be out of here and he'd be out cold right now,' Eric thought as he did his best to free himself. He could move his hands a bit but that was about it. Suddenly, he noticed movement from the corner of his eye. It was Sebastian who was waving his claw at him as he began to cut through the dough with the other. If Eric was able to speak, he would've told him to save Ariel first.

Eric then felt something sharp poking at his hand before he felt a handle forced into his hand. 'A knife? But- Who,' he asked himself as he saw Sebastian disappear from view and then saw the reason why. The Giant had turned his attention back to the boy and was now overshadowing him and the wrapped pigs. The giant than reached over to a cup of toothpicks and pulled three out. He then proceeded to stab one into each of the pigs as they squealed in pain before becoming silent and still. As soon as the giant reached Eric, his eyes and Ariel's stared in horror as the giant stabbed the final pick down. Eric and Ariel shut their eyes tightly as they heard the sound of the pick being stabbed.

Ariel turned away in fear, 'No! Eric! This can't be happening,' she thought in fear and sorrow as tears formed in her eyes, 'This is my fault... If I had listened to Arista and not wondered into the forest, Eric would never have come up here and he'd still be- NOOOO!'

Neither teen dared open their eyes for fear of what they would see. After what felt like an eternity, Eric however opened his to see that the pick actually went between his legs. He mentally sighed and mentally thanked Lady Luck for the save. 'That was close,' he thought to himself as he felt the giant lift the pan he was stuck to up and saw the stove he was heading for. 'Oh geez! Talk about from the frying pan and into the oven,' he thought as he began to use the knife he was given to cut himself free from the batter.

As the giant returned his attention to Ariel who was still heartbroken by her fiancé's supposed death, the giant picked up a knife that was leaning on the wall, took a pile of weeds, and began to chop them up quickly into little bits. He then put the knife down and began to place the shredded weeds into a bowl.

As the giant worked on the meal, Jack who was hiding above, lowered himself down quietly, tied the rope around the handle of the knife, and gave the rope a few tugs. 'So far so good,' he thought to himself as he waited for a response from his tugging, 'Come on Arista. The giant isn't going to work on his-'

Suddenly, the knife with the rope was pulled up into the air along with Jack who was standing on the hilt. As it rose, he saw the sack lower down which was the cause of the knife going up thanks to its weight. As soon as it reached the beam, Jack quickly tied the knife to the beam to keep it in place just as the giant began to fill the bowl with other kinds of food.

"You should consider yourself lucky," the giant told Ariel in an evil tone as Jack moved back down the beam, "You and your friend will be the first beans to be eaten in centuries." Ariel didn't answer as her mind was still racing with her beloved being dead. "The General will enjoy eating you two," the giant finished with an evil grin.

"Oh, I'm sure the General would like it. But I bet he would enjoy his meal more if you didn't make them with your mother's recipe for cooking socks!"

The loud voice and its words were just enough to break Ariel out of mental breakdown and the giant from his gloating. "What was th-," the giant said as he turned around, only to come face first with the sack causing it to explode in his face like a water balloon. Only his face filled with blue pollen causing him to cough for a few minutes as the spores entered his nose and mouth.

Suddenly, the giant's eyes began to shutter until he finally yawned and collapses forward towards the stove. Jack, who had been standing on the bag, used a vine to swing down, shoot another vine around the giant, and caused the titan to fall sideways towards the shelf.

BOOM!

The room shook from the impact as Ariel's cage fell over and rolled in a circle. The room was then filled with the giant's snoring as he slept like a log. Meanwhile, Jack climbed back up to the beam to help Arista down onto the floor near the stove. "How did you know that would work," Arista asked Jack, "I mean, the giants don't seem like they would care about anyone other than themselves."

"Oh, they don't," Jack said as he and Arista stood before the oven and he pulled his staff out, "But these giants get angry about anything. They don't even socks! Let alone shoes." Jack then shot a vine up to the rim above the entrance and pulled himself up. He then looked in to see a sweating and struggling Eric was able to cut enough of the dough to free himself, but he still could barely move other than his hands. "Boy, that's got to be uncomfortable," Jack said as he held onto the rim and shot a vine around Eric's hand, "I bet you'd lose your mind if you had to itch while under that crazy spell. Although I bet you'd win the world record for ignoring an itch. If people still keep track of those. I've been up here for years, so I'm little behind."

As Jack pulled Eric out of the stove, Arista silent smiled while trying to hide a laugh from Jack's jokes. 'Why am I finding that funny,' Arista thought to herself in confusion, 'How can a human make me laugh like this?!'

CRASH!

Arista was snapped out of train of thought when the sound of something smashing. She turned around to see the cage that Ariel was trapped in had fallen over and was lying on its side. "Ariel," Arista exclaimed as ran over and began to turn it with the door facing upwards.

"Arista," Ariel said in surprise, "What are you doing here?! This is the last place any of us want to be!"

"I came here to save you," Arista angerly said as she began to pull the pin out, "Why else would I be in the place I didn't want to be?!"

"So, you're saying this is my fault," Ariel retorted at Arista's comment.

"Your words," Arista said as she pulled the pin out and the door opened, "Not mine." Ariel pulled herself out and the two girls stood there with a glare on their face. Despite the reunion, the two girls were still clearly angry at one another.

"Thanks for coming for me," Ariel finally said looking away, "I thought you would return to the surface."

"I don't abandon my family," Arista responded also looking away, "I wouldn't wish being here on anyone with these monsters on the loose."

Both girls continued to look away, despite being glad the other was safe, they were still angry at one another for their words before, and now. Ariel's eyes suddenly snapped open when she saw Eric on the floor, "Eric," she exclaimed in horror as she ran over to his side. All fear of his death was gone when she saw that he was still alive and breathing, "Oh thank Poseidon, he's alive," she exclaimed as she hugged him tightly and cried tears of joy on him.

"He's alive ma'am," Jack said as he stood up with Arista standing next to him, "But he's still unable to move but whatever the girl with the crown before did to him."

"Isn't there something in your bag that could snap him out of this," Arista asked him, "We can't leave him here and Ariel won't leave without him."

"My apologies ma'am. But reversing magic isn't one of my strong points," Jack told her, "I'm a farmer, adventurer, climber, and vegetarian. Not a magician."

Before Arista could say anything else, Ariel kissed Eric on the lips much to both of their surprise. 'I can't believe she's doing that! With him,' Arista thought in shock while blushing from the memory from the beach, 'I can't look at it!' She looked away at Jack and saw him have a surprised look on his face while blushing as well. 'What's with him,' she thought to herself, 'It's not like he hasn't seen that before on the surface!'

As soon as Ariel stopped kissing her beloved, Eric suddenly gasped and his eyes widened at the energy from the kiss moving through him. He then began to breath hard as he looked at Ariel with a weak smile, "Here I came to help you," he said, "But it looks like you and the others helped me even more."

Ariel smiled as she hugged him again, "I knew you would come," she told him.

"I'd follow you to the ends of the world and back again," Eric told her as he returned the hug.

Arista looked at her sister hugging her Eric as she felt a deep confliction go through her. 'Why does this have to be so hard,' she thought to herself, 'I know my sisters and I want Ariel to come home but... Why does seeing how much those two love each other makes it seem wrong?'

Jack was looking at the two with a smile on his face feeling the warmth of the scene before them. 'Aww... Those two are really-'

"YOU'RE BRA STRAP IS CLEARLY TOO TIGHT! PLEASE ALLOW ME THE HONOR OF- GRAAACK!"

Suddenly, the warm moment ended as Ariel, Eric, and Arista were startled by the yell and painful sound. They all looked to see Chamo who had jumped from his hiding place on the table was now frozen in midair by Jack blocking him with his staff.

"Oh, your highnesses," Sebastian exclaimed after jumping off of Chamo in mid-flight and landing on Eric's chest, "I was so worried about the two of you," he exclaimed as tears in the form of waterfalls sprayed out of his eyes, "I couldn't bear to tell the King his daughters were eaten by giants!"

Ariel went from looking at Chamo to Sebastian as he cried in relief still not sure what had just happened earlier.

"You ruined the moment Chamo," Jack said a little annoyed by his partner's perverted words.

"True," Chamo said as he picked and straightened himself, "But it did get everyone's attention. So now, as the bird above has been saying for the past three minutes..."

"QUIT THE LOVEY DOVEY STUFF AND LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"

Everyone looked up to see Iago's panicked expression as he was saying something that Dax and the Gosling all agreed on.

"I have to agree," Jack said as he held his staff up in the air. The top shot a vine upwards to the ceiling above the railings. The bottom of the staff opened up like a flower as vines spread out around the bottom the teens and formed a floor of green ivy. "Elevator up," Jack said as the make shift elevator began to rise up to the ceiling.

* * *

 **Next Chapter**

 **Truth and Answers; Mastermind Revealed part 3**

 **This chapter once again turned out to be too long to for one sitting so I split it in half again. Working on the next one as soon as I can though.**


	10. Chapter 10 The Escape

**Chapter 10 Truths and Answers; The Escape**

 **Corridors**

After reaching the rafters, the teens and animals returned to the caves, and headed for an exit that would lead them back outside the castle. Jack, Chamo, and Arista stayed in the front while the others stayed behind. Within in the group, there was an unease and awkward presence in the air. Despite no words being said, everyone knew who the sources of this were. Ariel and Arista had not said another word to each other after escaping the kitchen. They shot a glance at each other every now and then, but never made eye contact with each other.

As Eric walked next to Ariel as Jack walked next to Arista, both boys could tell that the girls were feeling awkward around their sibling due. Eric knew about Ariel's argument with her sister when she returned from Atlantica while Jack heard the girls arguing before the giants arrived. Both boys decided that they needed to try and get the sisters to talk otherwise the atmosphere would remain awkward.

Both boys cleared their throats getting the girls' attention, "So-" "So miss-"

"I don't want to talk about it now," both girls said flatly as they both knew what the boy next to them were going to ask. The boys got the message as they stopped talking.

"Good call ladies. Priority one should be getting out of here," Iago said while flying in front of the baby chick in order to comfort his investment, "Last thing I want is to run into more giants and spiders!"

"I agree with you there mon. Last thing any of us want is to run into the giant that somehow made these tunnels," Sebastian said as he feared that the giants would learn where they are. Especially if Ursula was really leading them.

"No need to worry about that," Jack said with a confident smile on his face, "You see, the giants didn't make these tunnels."

"Well that's a relief," Dax said feeling relieved that there was less risk of being discovered.

"The spiders are the ones who made them," Jack said causing Dax, Sebastian, Iago, and Arista to go pale at the mention of the eight eyed monster from before. "You see those spiders are a breed that dig holes in order to trap their prey," Jack continued, "These tunnels were made when they were building their burrows."

"That spi- whatever made all of these passageways," Arista asked in an alarm tone of voice.

"No, of course not," Jack answered earning a sigh of relief from Arista and the others, "Its parents made them. It's true they are dangerous, but they are also great banjo players if you avoid being seen by them."

Everyone just stood there not sure what to make of that comment as they processed that. "So," Eric finally broke the awkward silence, "What are the chances that they spiders will-"

Suddenly, different parts of the wall broke as long hairy black legs broke through attempting to attack them. Pieces of rock flew everywhere as the group covered their heads to avoid being hit by them as they saw more spider legs break through.

"Of them attacking us for invading their territory? Very good actually," Jack said as he hit a leg back with his staff, "That ends the tour of the castle. Now I recommended we-"

"QUIT TALKING AND JUST RUUUUUUUNNNN," Iago finally yelled as he pocked the gosling's behind. It yelped in pain and surprise as it made a break for it. Soon the others followed as more and more legs burst out of the wall attempting to grab the teens.

As they ran, more and more walls burst open around the adventurers and their tour guides. Ariel and Eric who were still weakened from the magic and lack of food helped each other move. Sebastian, Iago, and Dax rode on the Goseling while holding on to dear life. Jack and Arista were running on their own while Chamo held on to Jack's shoulder as he avoided the legs.

"THEY WANT TO EAT OUR FLESH," Iago exclaimed as he held on for dear life to his nest egg as more legs burst through the cave walls.

"Actually, spiders don't eat flesh," Chamo spoke up, "After trapping the prey in their webbing, they use acid to burn holes in the victims and extract the life fluids for sustenance."

Ariel and Arista both looked at Chamo as the processed what he said. They both imagined being tied up in the webbing of the spiders as they're life fluids were drained leaving them withered husks of their former selves. The girls were filled with a feeling of fear and disgust more than anything they had ever felt before in their lives. "IS THAT REALLY IMPORTANT NOW," the sisters exclaimed in fearful voices as they continued to run.

Chamo turned back to see both girls, "The more you know," he replied as a banner with his words over a rainbow appear over his head.

"Besides," Jack said as he turned a corner, "We need some education in this story somewhere." As the group turned a corner, they saw a bright light before them as they ran faster, "Not to worry everyone. We're almost out of this cave," Jack said with a confident smile.

"Thank goodness," Arista replied, "Running on these legs is harder than swimming with one tail! I still don't see th-"

'CRASH!'

The cave was suddenly filled with more dirt in the air that prevented anyone from seeing clearly as they covered their eyes as best they could. Arista however, aside from the burning feeling in her legs and the dirt in her eyes, now had a burning pain on the back of her head and her back. "Oww," she said to herself, "What was that?!" The moment she opened her eyes, her blood ran cold as her face went pale like a ghost.

There breaking through the cloud of dirt, was a long black harry leg that was now connected to shoulder of Arista's coat pinning her to the wall. Through the darkness and the cloud of dust slowly fading, she could make four black inhuman eyes staring at her through another hole. As a chill rain through Arista, creating goosebumps all over her, she realized that this was one of the adult spiders Jack was talking about.

"Arista," Ariel cried out as she ran for her sister along with Jack, only for more spider legs to shoot through the rocks blocking her path along with the animals and Eric who was still too weak to fight.

"Hang on," Jack yelled, "Oh dear. They are very angry now," he said at this new development as he pulled his staff out and began to strike at the legs to force them away.

Back with Arista, she could see the eyes still stare at her creeping her out. The feeling became worse the moment she saw one of the spider's mandible poked through the hole and reached out towards her. It was as though the spider blamed her for the attack on its child "Oh, my Poseidon," she yelled in fear as the fear told her to swim or rather run away. After a moment of struggling, she managed to free herself but left the left shoulder of her jack still pinned to the wall.

With fear all over her face, she princess began to run with new found experience with her legs as fast as they could go. "First man eating giants, now ravenous crustaceans without claws," she exclaimed, "I don't even want to know what's next!" At that moment, she reached the barricade of legs blocking her off from the others.

"Grab this!"

Before Arista could react to the new situation, the sound of Jack's voice caught her attention though the noise the spiders were making as she saw a green vine sticking out between the legs. Without hesitation, she grabbed the vine, only to be pulled through the legs at lightning speed as though she was trapped in a high current of water. As she was pulled through, parts of her clothing were torn, namely her jacket, and she could feel the hair from the spiders all over her. It felt as though her skin was being pricked by the legs, not enough to break her skin but enough to make it crawl.

The moment she was pulled through by Jack, she was shivering all over from the hair. "Worst... Vacation... Ever," she said as she looked at Jack, "Thanks."

"Not a problem," Jack said as they group resumed running, "And yes, I agree. Not a pleasant feeling to be sure. Thankfully, these aren't the dangerous kinds," Jack continued as the group reached the exit of the cave.

 **Outside the Castle**

From a hole in the valley outside of the castle, a burst of dirt came flying out of the hole as everyone flew out of the hole just as the cave collapsed behind them from all the wall damage. At the moment, they were all spread out outside the entrance as they coughed up dust and catch their breath from the experience. Arista however had taken the most damage from it, specifically her coat. It had been cut so much that the sleeves were tattered and the main body had fallen off leaving Arista without it.

"Oh man," Iago said as he laid on the ground breathing hard as the goseling nudged his side, "When this is over, I never want to see anything taller than a tree for the rest of my-"

"Quit hogging him!"

"Wait your turn!"

The voices of more giants caught everyone's attention as they looked around what remained of the cave to see something that was a shock to see. There in the middle of the area near the bridge to the castle were three giants playing catch... By using the BFG as a ball. The smaller giant was tossed left and right by the larger ones as though he was an action figure or a football much to the BFG's discomfort. All the giants laughed at the good time they were having and at the BFG's misfortune they were causing.

Back with the group, they all were in shock, not as much as Jack who was used to seeing this but still enough to notice. "Oh my," Ariel said as she covered her mouth from the dread she was feeling from the scene, "That's- That's horrible!"

"Before the night of the party, I've seen bullying back in school," Eric said as he leaned on Ariel for some support, "But that's... That's just," he said unable to find the words to describe how he felt he seeing this.

"Okay, I know that I worked for a bad guy for a while, but that is just low," Iago said as he and the other animals stared in shock, "Although even though we don't know the lanky one, we're still going to help right," Iago asked knowing the answer.

"We do know him," Chamo spoke out, "He happens to be a good friend of mine and Jack's. Now we just need to figure out a way to save him."

"This is worse than before," Arista said as she stared in shock at the scene. She looked at Jack who despite seeming calm, had an anger growing inside of him. She grabbed Jack's shoulder causing him to look at her pleading face. "You have a plan, right," she asked hoping the answer was yes.

Jack looked at Arista's face. Despite his anger, her sad face had a calming effect on him. "Of course, Miss Arista," Jack said with a smile as he looked into his bag, "We just need a safe method to do it with. Especially since I used the last of my sleeping bombs."

"Well in your defense, you have been using a lot of them lately," Chamo said as he jumped on Jack's shoulder to see what he had left. The three looked in to see a number of acorns shaped items tied together like bolas. The acorns seemed to be hollow with an opening like a bell in them. "Hmm, just noise makers left," Chamo said in thought, "Good for distractions but not the best for knocking giants out."

Arista stared at the bag as she thought in desperation, suddenly she remembered something from before in the forest. "Wait, the giants didn't like it when Ariel used her water bending back in the forest. Maybe we could scare them away with it," Arista suggested.

"Not all the giants like that. Only the ones who work with Fleshlumpeater are afraid of it. Rather they dislike being clean," Chamo explained, "Something about body odor being a badge of honor or something like that." That caused the others to cringe in disgust at the idea of no bathing.

"I remember that the giants were afraid of my water bending from the forest," Ariel began to say after getting over the disgust, "But I'm out of water and there are no trees around to use water."

"Wait. Ariel, you don't need trees to water," Eric told her, "In this place, there is more water in the air. I felt it when I first fought a giant here."

"Yeah. He was able to literally surf in the air using the water in the air," Dax spoke out, "I bet Calipso didn't know he could do that."

Ariel looked at Eric after hearing this as a look of excitement appeared on her face at hearing that, "I would've loved to have seen that!" She then placed Eric down so he could rest, "Okay, let's see if I can do this. I'll need a big amount of water to knock those three out."

"Wait, I have a better idea," Jack said getting her attention as he pulled out some noisemakers, "Why fight big, when we can fight smart," he said with a confident smirk leaving the others confused.

Back with the Giants

The BFG landed on the ground with a thud after being thrown again for one of the giants to allow BFG to hit the ground rather than catch him.

"Awww, we almost break the record," one of the giants wearing a large helmet with horns that covered his face and a loin cloth on the side said while nudging the giant that missed for screwing up their game.

"No trouble," the giant replied while wearing a yellow kilt made from a circus tent, "We just try again," he said as he and the other giants began to go to pick him up again.

The BFG backed away with fear all over his face, 'Just think of it like the days before Jack entered your life,' he thought in order to steel himself for what was about to happen again just like the old days.

'BOOM'

The four giants were broken out of their train of thought when they heard a loud sound in the air. They all instinctively looked up to see nothing but the sun and a few clouds. "Must have been a Fallon fighting again," the giant wearing a green kilt with tent poles hanging from it said as he turned his attention back to the BFG, "Now-"

Suddenly, all three giants stopped in their tracks as they began to feel something wet on them. They looked up in silent horror as they saw water drops began to fall from the sky and slowly increase in number and speed.

"SKY WATER," all three yelled out in horror as they ran around in circles in panic, "BLECH! CLEAN! GROSS!" After a moment, all three ran away from fear of the rain weakening their BO badges of honor towards anywhere that could cover them.

The BFG watch them run away as he picked himself up as the rain started to die down.

"That worked better than I thought it would."

The BFG turned around to see Jack running towards the BFG along with Chamo while the others caught up with them. "You're all being all right," he said happy to see his friends were all right and succeeded in their mission.

"Yes, I'm sorry we took so long though," Jack said as he looked up at his friend, "Are you all right?"

"No problem being," the BFG said with a smile hiding his injuries, "Nothing I be not used to."

Behind them, Arista was smiling at seeing the bond between Jack and the BFG. 'They're like brothers, they know they can count on one other,' Arista thought as she watched them but then became disheartened, "Ariel and I used to be like that until after the concert. But now..."

Ariel who was helping Eric along with the animals looked up at the BFG and could see the bond as well. But what really got most of their attention was the giant's kind face. Like a grandfather happy to see his family.

"Over here! This is where I saw him!"

Everyone was broken out of their train of thought when they heard more loud voices heading towards them. "We have to being going now," the BFG said as he placed his hands on the ground to pick them up. Not wanting to argue, especially Iago who was protecting the goseling and nest egg, jumped on the large hands.

"Where to now," Arista asked Jack, "Do we head back to the house?"

"Not a chance," Chamo replied, "The giants will look there first for us. We need to go to the one place they can't go."

"Are you crazy," Iago exclaimed, "The giants practically rule this land with size and numbers! With them in charge, there is no safe place!"

"I have to agree with the loud mouth Mon," Sebastian said from Ariel's shoulder, "If there was such a safe haven, where would it be?"

The BFG and Jack looked at each other knowing the answer, "Dream Country," the two said in unison as the BFG started to run towards the forest out of sight of the incoming giants.

Meanwhile, the giants led by Fleshlumpeater and his men arrived to find the BFG, but found only signs of their brothers, and rain.

"This not good," The Butcher Boy said, "Fallon wants to see the Runt, not signs of others."

"Why not just go to his hidey hole," The Manhugger asked Fleshlumpeater, "He bound to go back there."

"Fallon wants the Runt now," Fleshlumpeater said in an angry tone, "He not want to wait!" Suddenly, he sniffed something in the air. A familiar scent he had come across before. He followed the scene until he arrived at the remains of the cave. There he noticed a small red spot on the ground. He got on his knees and saw the spot was in fact what remained of Arista's jacket. He took it and sniffed it as the giants surrounded him. With a glare on his face, he knew what the scent was and what it meant.

"Other Fishy girl with the Runt!"

* * *

 **Sorry, work got in the way again but I did it. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up but I'll do what I can when I have time between work and seeing Venom (Nothing anyone says will change my mind about seeing and supporting it.) Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **Next Chapter: Dream Country; The Journey**


End file.
